Run Away
by Naruto's Mask
Summary: Naruto, tired of living in fear, leaves Konoha when the village council draws the last straw. Three years later, he returns. His loyalty, and his heart, given to someone else. Mostly Naruto!male!OC, some SasuNaru
1. Goodbye

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: Hope you like this! It just came to me on a stormy night when I had nothing else to do. Ahh, the power of boredom. Anyways, I do hope it doesn't torment you_ too_ much. If it does, tell me so I can laugh and say I annoyed one more person today! If it doesn't, let me know so I can pout and say 'Oh well, better luck next story'. Don't worry, I won't purposely make this annoy you if you tell me it doesn't.**

**Hmm, I think this is the time when I start the story, right? Maybe I should annoy you a little bit longer. Lets see...do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do be do...hahahah! I had fun. Okay, I'll give it to you! Have fun!**

Naruto looked around his apartment. Empty. That was good. Other than a few papers strewn about, it was empty. The cupboards were open, the drawers, and every room. Totally empty. The blond nin had a pack tossed behind him and a smirk set on his face as he held his hitai-ate tightly in his hand. He was done. He was through. It may make him a hypocrite, but he was done, and he was going for good.

Did they really expect him to stay here? This worthless place that doesn't even deserve his acknowledgement? Since childhood they've done nothing to persuade him to stay. _Nothing_! He had friends, who didn't, but all his friends didn't like the real him. Hell, they couldn't even see the real Naruto that was hiding behind the mask he constructed to keep other happy. If they saw him, if they knew him, then they would turn their backs on him like everyone else.

From day one he's done nothing but give to this village, and they took it and refused to give back because they think he _owed_ them for what the Kyuubi did to their family. He's helped this village, saved this village, not to mention, he brought their _precious Uchiha_ back by the ear. What did he get in return? Well, for one, when he brought Sasuke back, they yelled at him, accused him of hurting the raven more than necessary. In fact, while Sasuke got off with house arrest for a year, the council almost had Naruto _executed_ for goodness sake! Saying that it was his fault in the first place Sasuke left.

Why in the world would anyone expect him to stay after that? Well, he sure as hell wasn't going to! Unlike Sasuke, he had a good excuse to run. What is the better reason to leave? To gain power to kill your elder brother? Or to make sure the village you gave so much to didn't kill you in return? They would register him as a missing nin, send countless hunter-nins to bring back his head, and, hell, they'd probably succeed. Did he really care? Tch, yeah right. It wasn't like they weren't after his head from the beginning.

With another sigh, Naruto opened the door to his apartment and stepped out. It was nightfall and everyone was asleep. The only people he had to worry about were the ANBU who he never had trouble getting past anyways. He jumped to the edge of the village, where he knew there was an exit that no one else knew about. While they thought he was just goofing around, the real reason behind his pranks was to cover up his self-assigned mission to study every escape route possible so he can be prepared the next time the villagers go after him.

Naruto _was_ planning on leaving quietly. He _was_ planning on letting everyone know he was leaving after he left and they found an empty apartment the next morning. Also he _was_ planning on leaving without anyone sees him. Apparently, whatever higher being up there felt like he had to kick the poor blond in the ass just one last time before he left.

"Naruto?" a voice said behind him. Naruto groaned, glared up at the sky, then turned to see Sakura. The girl must be cursed. She was the one to see Sasuke leave, and now she's going to witness Naruto's departure as well.

"Hey there, Sakura-chan." He said to the pink haired medic-nin. She seemed concerned as to why he had a bag on his back and his hitai-ate clenched in his hand.

"Naruto…where are you going?" She asked bluntly. She wasn't about to beat around the bush, especially after Sasuke.

"…Away." He answered simply. Her eyes widened at the tone of his voice. This was the first time she ever heard him speak that way.

"Naruto, please tell me you're not doing what I think you're doing!" She almost begged. She already lost one of her friends, she doesn't want to lose another. He sighed and looked at her again. His mask was off. There was no smile on his face. Sakura's eyes widened at his eyes. Where she would always see a sparkle of life, it was now empty…just a dull blue that definitely didn't belong to the cheerful ninja she worked with.

"Sakura, I won't lie to you any more than I already have, but if you ask me questions I cannot answer, I will lie to you. Please don't make me do that. I'm so, so sick of lying." His voice lacked the usual cheer. In fact, he almost sounded tired.

"No…NO! I won't let you leave, Naruto! What about all those things you told Sasuke-kun and the others? Don't you dare do the very thing you've told so many people not to!" She cried clamping her hands on his shoulders. He sighed and whacked both her hands away.

"Sakura, I won't stay here. I _can't_ stay here. I refuse to stay in a place where I can't even go to sleep at night without the fear of killing me." He snapped with a sneer.

"What do you mean?" She asked him with her eyes wide. Naruto glared at her, but then he calmed and shook his head.

"No…I can't tell you. Look, I'm going. You can't do a thing to stop me. I may turn into a missing nin, but I prefer to be hunted down for something I did do, rather than something I didn't." He told her sadly.

"Naru-" she was cut off when he seemingly disappeared. Suddenly, she heard a deep voice speak to her from behind.

"I won't say I'm sorry for leaving, but I will apologize for doing this." That was all she heard before she was hit, and her world went black.

* * *

**NM-chan: Okay, there you have it. Retarded story number ONE! I had a story up earlier, but I deleted it because it was retarded beyond compare. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT ITACHI WAS FIVE WHEN THE KYUUBI WAS SEALED INTO NARUTO?! Okay, maybe if I actually did some research I would have known, but why waste valuable Internet time researching when I can make stories to annoy the pants out of people?**


	2. Truths and offers

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: I hope you enjoy this BRAND NEW CHAPTER!!!!!! I would say more, but I don't have much time on the computer right now. So, BAZANEE!**

**Discalimer: I do not own naruto or any of it's characters! I do, however, own Tatsuya-sama, and Kyo-kun. SO NO STEALING!!!!!**

"Hokage-sama, were you able to find Naruto yet?" Iruka asked the next morning. It had been four hours since Sakura was found and only two since she woke up and told Tsunade what had happened. Ever since then, ever available nin had been sent after the blond on strict orders to return him unharmed.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. That brat thought ahead and sent about fifty clones in different directions. You can't show a picture to any small villages because you can never know for sure if the Naruto they saw was the real one." She sighed. No matter what he did, Naruto never failed to give the Godaime a _major_ migraine.

Iruka sighed and bowed respectfully before leaving the office. He closed the door and he was faced with answering to the three other Konoha teams who came for the same thing he went for as well as the sand siblings, who had just arrived only to see Konoha in a mess and Tsunade asking them for help to find the blond nin. He shook his head at the unasked questions.

"Not yet. Many people have seen him, but he sent out his clones, so they've been running in circles for the most part.

"Terrific." Kiba muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"I-Iruka sen-sensei?" Hinata murmured, catching the chunin's attention.

"What is it?" She fidgeted for a moment before lifting her head up and looking at him.

"W-why did Naruto-kun leave? I know he had a g-good reason to go. Naruto-kun wouldn't leave un-unless he had no other option. You know, d-don't you? All the adults kn-know. Oto-san…Kurenai-sensei…even you. N-none of the adults were sur-surprised when Tsunade-sama said Naruto-kun left. In fact, a lot of them seemed ha-happy…why?" She asked.

Iruka's eyes widened. Was that true? Was it really not so surprising that Naruto left? Well…actually, that was true. He was hurt that the blond left, but he wasn't surprised. In fact, what surprised him most was that the blond didn't leave sooner. He knew what Naruto went through each day. As much as the boy tried to hide it, it was obvious what was done to him. Every day, Iruka wished Naruto would talk to him so he could put a stop to it, but he never did. The chunin knew for sure that if it were him in Naruto's place, he would not have been able to put up with it this long.

"Do you really want to know?" A soft voice asked behind him. Iruka gasped as he realized that he was still in front of the Hokage's door. "I can guarantee that if I tell you, you won't be able to look at Naruto in the same light ever again. Except for the Kazekage and his siblings. They already know about it."

"Tsunade-sama, you're not really considering-" Iruka was cut off when she lifted her hand.

"Yes I am. They deserve to know more than anybody the true reason he left. You know, and Hinata-chan was right, all the adults know. They deserve that knowledge too." She said. Iruka knew she was right, but he was scared for Naruto. If they were told about the Kyuubi, they may do just what almost all the villagers did to Naruto since he was born.

They may shun him. They may not even see him as a human being. He could be berated about how little faith he had in his ex-students, but the fact of the matter is that they grew up being taught that the Kyuubi was evil and that he nearly killed everyone and destroyed the village. If they see Naruto as the Kyuubi, and he was found, then he would have lost all those who he once called friends.

"What is it about?" Neji asked.

"Come inside. All of you. Iruka, can you bring Sakura and Sasuke as well?" Tsunade asked, dismissing the noticeable tense air that followed the Uchiha's name.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." He said before vanishing in a puff of smoke. While they waited, Tsunade organized them in her room so there wasn't a crowd. She also forced all of them to sit, saying that they'd probably want to. Soon, there was another puff of smoke and they saw a worried Sakura, and the stony face of the Uchiha.

"What's this about?" He demanded. Tsunade glared at him, but calmed down and made a motion with her hand, telling him to sit.

"Okay. What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room. Your families are already aware of this, but the last thing I need is for them tell all the children just because they think I lifted the law." She said.

"What law?" Tenten asked. Tsunade looked at them sadly, slightly reconsidering telling them, but she shook her head at herself and continued.

"There was a law made when you were all babies. Some of you weren't even born yet, but it was made fifteen years ago on October 10th. You all know what day that is, correct?" She asked.

"Yes, that is the day that the village celebrates the defeat of the Kyuubi and mourns the death of the Yondaime Hokage." Shikamaru muttered.

"Correct. You may not know this, and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't, but the very day the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi…was also the day Naruto was born." She paused for a moment and they all looked at her with confused expressions. It was true that they weren't aware of this, but they also didn't know where she was going with this.

"Hokage-sama…what does this have to do with anything?" Lee asked her.

"I'm getting to that! Well, you know the stories about the Yondaime's defeat of the Kyuubi. There are many versions of it, but they all have one thing in common. The Kyuubi died along with the Yondaime. Those versions, however, were lies. Big fat lies that the Sandaime cooked up for Naruto's sake. Now, I know you have questions, but hold it until I'm done, got it?"

When there was no sound, she continued. "It is true that the Kyuubi was defeated and the Yondaime died in the process, but that's all that is true. Stories tell you that they Kyuubi died, but he didn't. He is still very much alive, even to this day."

"That's not true!" Sakura suddenly interrupted, jumping up. "It can't be true. If the Kyuubi lived, then he would have killed everyone."

"Sakura, no interruptions! That is what I'm trying to explain. The Yondaime didn't _kill_ the Kyuubi. He sealed the demon away. This seal is special. In order to seal away a demon lord such as the Kyuubi, he had to seal him away into a newborn child, the umbilical cord freshly cut. There was only one child he could seal the demon into. He sealed the Kyuubi within the body of his own son. Within Naruto…"

* * *

Naruto groaned as he woke, his body throbbing with pain when he tried to move. He tried to sit up, but his body protested violently and he found himself screaming in pain. He then felt gentle hands pin him to the bed as he thrashed around. 

"Please, calm yourself, sir. If you move more than necessary, you will inflict more damage on your body." A soothing voice said. Naruto bit his lip and whimpered as he tried to clam himself with the splitting pain in his body. When the person was satisfied, their hands were removed and Naruto allowed himself to completely relax.

_I wonder where I am_. He thought trying to sense if he was back in Konoha. He wasn't, but he noticed that his chakra reserves were dangerously low, even with the Kyuubi's help. It must have been when he made so many clones and upped his speed. He didn't expect to be so wasted, though.

"You gave us quite a scare, sir. My master found you lying on the forest and he panicked. He isn't so good with handling the sight of a dead body. It was lucky that he discovered you were alive, or else we would have buried you." The man, he assumed it was a man, sounded a bit relieved, but Naruto pushed the thought away. Who in the world would be relieved that _he_ was all right?

Naruto groaned a little bit, but he managed to open his eyes. He saw that he was in a richly furnished room, meaning the owner must be very wealthy. There was a heater, where he saw his clothes hanging above. Next to him, he saw a pair of green eyes looking happily at him. The owner of those eyes was most likely the man who spoke to him. He had long, light red hair that made him look very effeminate and a warm smile on his face as Naruto opened his eyes.

"Who…are you?" He asked, his voice hoarse and his throat protested violently to his attempt to speak. The red head took a cloth from a water-filled bowl and put it on Naruto's head before speaking.

"Atsusa Kyo. I would ask you yours, but it seems that wouldn't be too good an idea." He said, pointing out that he noticed the look of pain Naruto had when he spoke. Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Could you blame him? He was in the middle of a stranger's house and he could barely move an inch. His attention was diverted, however, when the door slid open, and an elderly man, in his late thirties, at least, walked in. Kyo immediately jolted up and bowed politely.

"Tatsuya-sama." He murmured as he bowed. The man nodded in acknowledgement and smiled warmly towards Naruto.

"It seems our guest has awoken. I trust Kyo-san has been taking good care of you." He said with a gentle voice. Naruto, not really wanting to risk speaking, nodded a little, but that just brought more objections from his body.

_Damn it! I can't believe how weak I am!_ He snarled at himself. Tatsuya walked up to him, and sat on a cushion by the bed as Kyo settled himself on the floor near the heater.

"You must be the runaway from Konoha." Naruto visibly, and painfully, flinched at the statement. "Don't be worried. I've heard many things about you, Uzumaki-san. Some I've had to put together myself. You are aware of the demon that resides inside of you, correct?"

Naruto didn't like where this was going. If these people were like, or were a part of the Akatsuki, then he wouldn't be able to stop them if they wanted the demon inside of him. He was just in too much pain, and Kyuubi was probably asleep considering he hasn't harassed the blond yet. But the man seemed to notice Naruto's agitation and started laughing.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I would never dream of hurting such a beautiful creature. But all joking aside, how would you like to join my village? It's freshly formed, and, I assure you, we will not treat you the same as those ungrateful Konoha civilians. You're a hero for holding such a burden, and you will be treated no less than a hero. Of course, should you decline, I will make sure you are nursed back to health and you will be free to go. No matter your decision, Konoha will not get any information from us should you wish it."

The blond male thought of this for a moment. It actually didn't sound like such a bad idea. This man _seemed_ honest enough, but Naruto knew better than anyone that looks could be very deceiving. For all he knew, these were hunter-nins holding him back until reinforcements arrived. Of course he would easily be blinded by the thought of a village actually accepting him.

"Uzumaki-san, we don't expect you to trust us or answer us right away. But you have such great power, and it would be wasted in a place such as Konoha. Please, just consider it." Naruto looked over at Kyo, who smiled, and something about that smile made him believe that they really didn't mean any harm. He nodded, saying that he'd think about it.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. Here, drink this. It will put you to sleep, but it will also lessen the pain." Tatsuya said holding up a small cup. He lifted Naruto's head to help him drink, and when the blond was finished, he felt very drowsy, and the last things he saw before falling asleep were a pair of small, but sincere smiles.

**

* * *

****NM-chan: Well, there you have it! I didn't really like this chap because it made Naruto seem so WEAK! I didn't like that, but, oh well, it shall never be like that again, I promise! Happy Holidays! (If I'm not to lazy, I'll give you all a Christmas gift. ONE REALLY LOOOOONNNNGGG chapter!!!)**


	3. He's baaaaaccckkkk

_**Run Away**_

_**By: Naruto's Mask**_

**NM-chan: EEEEE!!!!! I MADE A LONG CHAPPY!!!! First time in my life. I hope it is satisfactory. Ooo, you're going to hate me for the ending. Not so much what the ending is, just where I decided to end it. I know you're going to hate.**

**All right, just to let you know, there are going to be flashbacks until the timeskip. I was told it brings tears, so be warned. I think it could have gone better, but you get what you get. I did promise a long chapter and a long chapter is what I'm going to give you(although it isn't as long as I would have liked)! Enjoy!**

Sakura sighed as she sat in the middle of her bed. It was the middle of the night and she was still awake, and not the least bit tired. Too many things have happened in the last 48 hours and she was having too much trouble absorbing it all it. When Tsunade said that they wouldn't be able to look at Naruto in the same light, she wasn't kidding. But instead of hating Naruto, like Iruka said most of the villagers did, she began hating herself.

"_What…what do you mean?" Ino said in surprise when Tsunade finished telling them about they seal. She was the only one brave enough to speak. Even Sasuke was staring at the elderly woman with wide eyes. The only people in the room who weren't so shocked were Iruka and the sand siblings._

"_Exactly what I told you. Naruto is the vessel of the Kyuubi. Now, before you start thinking like your parents, Naruto is _not_ the Kyuubi himself. That's just the excuse the villagers cooked up to make them feel better about beating up a small child." Tsunade said the last part sourly, and Sakura gasped._

"_Wait, are you telling me that they actually abused him because of it?" She asked her. Iruka sighed sadly next to her and looked at the younger ninjas in front of him._

"_They did more than that, Sakura. Ever since he was born, Naruto has been the receiver of all the hatred the villagers felt for the Kyuubi. He was ignored, and shunned by them. And that was nice compared to what some of them did. If they weren't ignoring him, they insulted him. Called him a demon and a monster. The bolder ones would gang up on him and beat him. He would call for help, but people passing by would ignore him, congratulate his attackers for their bravery, or even helped abuse him. The worse thing is that he never even knew why until Mizuki told him the day he graduated." They stared at him in shock, and they became angry. Even Shikamaru was shaking in anger at the information they just received._

"_We all knew what was happening, but Naruto would never tell us directly, so there was nothing we could do about it. Many of us were lucky to witness and put a stop to some of the abuse, but the problem was that Naruto would never turn anyone in, so the abuse would continue. Even so, he once said to me that he preferred it, rather than be completely ignored. That's why he started pranking. He wore a mask of idiocy and happiness so that he could not only receive some attention, but so that we wouldn't know of his grief and we wouldn't worry. That boy was always more concerned with the welfare of others rather than his own." Tsunade smiled fondly, but shook herself out of her small trance and looked at the group sternly._

_They were all quiet, too stunned to say anything. So that was the secret of their blond friend? The boy that had greatly affected their lives in one way or another had this burden on his shoulders, and none of them ever knew about it? Not his teammates, not even Hinata, who had always watched him, really knew about his life. All those smiles, and the laughter, were any of those real when they came out of him? _

"_I refuse to stay in a place where I can't even go to sleep at night without the fear of killing me." Sakura murmured, and everyone turned to her. "That was what he said to me before he left…I didn't understand it at the time, but…" She trailed off as tears welled in her eyes. Ino put her arm around her friend comfortingly and the pink haired girl started to cry._

"_How could I have been so stupid? Every day, he would come up to me and say hi or good morning and I almost never returned the favor. He saved me so many times, and the only thing I've ever done was insult him or hit him! I can't believe that I…I was so cruel. I never listened to him. I was never even remotely nice to him. If I paid just a little more attention, maybe I would have noticed, and maybe I could have helped, but…I didn't." She said sobbing into Ino's shoulder. _

"_None of us did." Tenten admitted._

"_So…" Tsunade said, breaking the solemn silence. "What do you want to do?" They all looked at her, trying to find the right words to say, before Shino spoke up._

"_We want to find him." He stated simply._

"_We want to apologize for never paying him any attention." Ino muttered._

"_And for never thanking him for everything he's done for us." Neji said._

"_I want to kick those villager's sorry asses for even thinking about laying a hand on our friend!" Kiba snarled. Tsunade smiled and Iruka did as well. He was glad that he was wrong about what he thought. _

"_I'll have some of our nins start gathering information on where he is." Gaara muttered, reminding everyone of their presence. Tsunade nodded and pulled up some paper from her desk._

"_You will all be assigned to try to find and retrieve that boy. I'm trying to keep the council at bay, but if we don't find him soon, he will be labeled as a missing nin. So we need to avoid wild goose chases. Be careful, however. He's been sending our people in circles with those damnable Kage Bunshnis of his." She told them._

"_Well, then, that will be a problem." Shikamaru said. _

"_Yes, but I'm sure we can get him back. You're dismissed for now, but expect to be coming back after the council finishes yelling at me for taking to long to label him a missing nin." She sighed._

"_Hai, Hokage-sama!"_

Sakura sniffed and pulled her knees to her chest. She asked to stay, knowing that, in her current state, she would be completely useless when trying to find Naruto. She kept on thinking back to the times she spent with Naruto, and the amount of times she could remember being kind to him…well, she could count them off on one hand. She never thought of it before, her mind usually being too occupied by Sasuke one way or another, but she really was so cruel to him. And whenever he did something for her, she either didn't acknowledge it, or threw it back in her face.

She _was_ a lot kinder to him now compared to their academy days, but thinking about those days made her even more depressed. Especially when they first became teammates.

"_Sasuke-kun, where are you?" Sakura called when the class was dismissed for lunch. They were already separated into groups and, after lunch, they were supposed to meet their Jounin senseis._

"_Why did he go running off so fast? Since we're in the same group and all I thought we could have lunch together and get to know each other." She muttered sadly. Behind her, Naruto came walking up, waving happily when he saw her._

"_Hey, Sakura-chan! Since we're in the same group, I thought maybe we could have lunch together and get to know each other." He said with his usual smile. Sakura glared at him in annoyance._

"_Why would I eat lunch with _you_? How could that thought even cross your mind?" She demanded angrily that he could even think that she would be seen in public with the class idiot._

"_But, we're in the same group, so, you know, I just thought…" But she cut him off with a snobbish glare._

"_Naruto, **you're annoying**." She snapped before going off and looking for Sasuke._

**NM-chan: DIRECT QUOTE! OH YEAH!!! Well, I added the suffixes, but, other than that, directly from the dub!**

_I'm so ashamed of myself. He just wanted to do the same thing with me that I wanted to do with Sasuke. No wonder Sasuke was so mad at me, especially after I called Naruto selfish because he grew up with no parents. Now that I think about it, if I grew up under those conditions, even without the abuse from the villagers, I could never have survived._ More tears streamed down the pink haired kounochi's face the more she thought about her relationship with Naruto.

_That's it! If…no, WHEN we find Naruto, I'm going to be the nicest person in the world, you'll see! I will never insult him or hurt him for as long as I live! I swear it!_ She thought determined to keep that promise. But first, she had to _find_ Naruto, and that's exactly what she was going to do. _Tomorrow. The moment I wake up, I'm going to Tsunade-sama and telling her that I'm going to help. We'll get you back, Naruto! You've helped us, so we're going to help you!_

With those thoughts still in her mind, Sakura laid on her bed and pulled the covers over herself, trying to fall asleep. Even as she did, tears still seeped from her eyes as she fell into fitful dreams.

**NM-chan: Kay, this is going to be a timeskip, and I usually stop the chap here and put the timeskip into the next chapter. But I promised a long chap, and that's what you're going to get. So, if it seems a little corny, then, too bad. It must be corny for you to get the long chappy. Bazanee!**

Three years later:

"Paperwork, paperwork, I HATE PAPERWORK!!!!" A loud voice cried in the middle of a dark village. Many citizens looked up to a large tower, where the cry had come from, but most disregarded it or started giggling to themselves at their usually calm leader's frustration. Inside of the tower, many people started adjusting frames and papers that had gone askew because of that outburst, but, all in all, it seemed as if everyone was used to this kind of thing. And they were.

"Ano…I don't think this is a good time." A nin said outside of the man's office. The secretary was picking up papers (more paperwork) that had fallen off her desk, but she seemed highly amused.

"With what _you_ have to tell him, it will be adding salt to a wound. Of course, he has a lot more paperwork coming to him, so I think you should get it over with." She advised, motioning to the three stacks on her desk that she had yet to deliver. The nin nodded and sighed, putting his hand on the knob of the door and opening it. He could feel the sweatdrop he got from what he saw, or…what he _couldn't_ see.

And what he couldn't see was their beloved leader, for he was currently hidden behind at least six large stacks of paperwork surrounding his desk. But, before the man decided to slip away, his presence was found and two stacks were separated from each other.

"Did you need something, Izu-san (note, I will not describe OCs that will never be mentioned again)?" He asked. Izu gulped slightly and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah…I was here to give you the location of the Chunin exams. I wanted to wait until you were in a better position, but…"

"My secretary has another mountain for me, doesn't she?" There was a nod, and the middle aged man sighed in annoyance. "I swear, I would have never agreed to become Yamikage if it meant sitting on my butt signing my name a hundred times."

"Yes, well, here is the location, teams, regulations, and rules for the exams, Tatsuya-sama." He said putting a slip of paper on the table. The dark haired male glared in annoyance at the new slip of paper, but he read it over anyways. His eyes widened and he looked at Izu, who seemed to have expected such a reaction.

"Tatsuya-sama…"

"No."

"But sir-"

"Izu-san, you have to understand I can not go to a place that will endanger the welfare of one of this village's most trusted nins. Have you forgotten that he is the only reason our genins are as powerful as they are?" Tatsuya asked him.

"Sir, please. It is true that our forces are strong, but it is because of this that we must go. The chunin exams are the little guarantee that the other villages don't feel threatened by us and join together to destroy us. Our ninjas are powerful, there's no doubt in anyone's mind, but we're still new. We shouldn't make too many enemies too soon. You know he would tell you the same thing." Izu told him.

Tatsuya sighed and propped his elbows on his desk and rested his forehead in his hands. "Three years…he volunteered for _three years_ to teach a trio of genins, and only this year was he able to pass his team." He muttered and sighed.

"Sir, we could bring Kyo-san along with us. You know it would ease things. His team wants to participate, you know as well as I do that we can't deny them that." The elder man nodded and sighed.

"I just hope he won't be too upset over it…"

* * *

Back in Konoha, people were bustling about. Some were running back and forth frantically, whereas others were calmly strolling about. Either way, they were all busy preparing for something. 

"So, chunin exams are coming up again?" A tired voice said on the top of a grassy hill. Shikamaru stretched his arms and looked contentedly at the clouds.

"Seems like it. Tch, I can't believe we're hosting it again, so troublesome…" He muttered and there was a giggle next to him. Shikamaru's gaze turned to the eighteen-year-old blond girl next to him.

"Tsunade tried to prevent it, with everything we're trying to do, but the council is determined to make sure we host. From what I've heard, they want to get her mind off of finding Naruto. The longer he's gone, the sooner killing him on sight is a must. They want to make sure we're all too busy to actually find him." She said.

"Everyone knows that, Ino-pig." They both turned to see a pink haired konouchi walking up to them.

"Hey there, Billboard Brow." Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled at the pair. Out of everyone, it seemed that Naruto's original teammates were more determined than anyone to find him. Sasuke, mostly because he felt as if he was indebted to Naruto. Either way, nothing was going to get in their way when it came to finding the blond.

For the past three years, the three teams have been burdened with the knowledge of Naruto's secret. It wasn't so really knowing it that was a burden. Hell, they were glad they knew so that they would be more considerate of Naruto. What was a burden was holding back their anger towards the village. Some, like Kiba, didn't hold back at all. He had taken up Naruto's role as village prankster, although the pranks were a bit more dangerous than what Naruto was known for.

Even though they were all being forced to put effort into the exams in some way, they still weren't discouraged from trying to find their blond friend. Even if this exam seemed to be a little bit more important to the village that usual. They honestly couldn't care less about anything that was important to the village.

"Did you hear? This is the first time we're hosting a chunin exam with that new village participating. Everyone's eager to please since this village has such a strong fighting force and everyone wants them to create a firm alliance with Konoha. With the way these people treat their protectors, I wouldn't be surprised if the request is thrown back in our faces." Ino muttered. It was kind of surprising how almost all their opinions towards their village had suddenly turned sour after they were told how Naruto was treated. There was even ill will towards some of their parents. Sakura's father threatened to kick her out of the house should she succeed in finding him. That just resulted in her moving into an apartment near Ino's flower shop.

Discovering Naruto's secret was actually something most of them needed. Because this was their home, and the place most of them grew up securely and safely, they never really thought that a large group of villagers could commit such a wrong. Sure, the occasional psycho would show up, but that happened less there than in any other village. This was mostly due to the fact that they had such good Hokages. However, knowing that more then nine-tenths of the villagers treated Naruto as a demon instead of as the hero his father wanted him to be seen as. Because they were able to see one great wrong, they were able to realize a great deal more that most would disregard because they felt it was necessary.

"How long has this village been around? I don't remember hearing anything about it during the academy." Sakura said, thinking about it.

"You wouldn't have." Shikamaru suddenly spoke up. "It was created only five years ago, by a man named Tatsuya and his companions. No one really paid any mind to it the first two years since everyone was so sure that they were too weak to become an actual hidden village. The people who helped create the village brought children who were going to become the village's first registered nins. After the first batch was less than satisfactory, people began disregarding them and wouldn't acknowledge them as a hidden village. It was only a few years ago that they changed their training tactics, and now genins taking the exams are dangerous. Especially since they seem to have a special grudge against Konoha."

"What's the name?"

"Yamigakure. The Village Hidden in the Darkness. It's supposed to be completely covered in darkness 24/7 and it's nearly impossible to find if they don't want you to find it. Oh, speaking of which, I need to get going. I was forced to help out at the inn where all our guests will be staying." Ino sighed.

"I'll help." Sakura decided as her friend stood up. Shikamaru barely made a noise of acknowledgement that they were going and Sakura rolled her eyes at how lazy the boy was.

As they walked, they noticed that it was more crowded than usual. It wasn't so surprising since the Chunin exams were starting the next day. Among the various hitai-ate, Sakura noticed a strange, new symbol. A black, crescent moon.

"Those must be from Yamigakure." Ino whispered noticing Sakura staring at a trio of twelve-year-olds who were standing outside of Ichiraiku's. The pink haired girl nodded and followed her to Konoha's largest inn, where most of the foreigners were heading.

"Ino-chan! Ino-chan, over here!" A 15-year-old girl cried, jumping in over the large crowd.

"Come on, Billboard Brow, we got guests to entertain." Ino smirked and went behind the counter, her friend following behind her. It was all a rushed blur to her, giving out keys to reserved rooms and pointing them which way each room was, sometimes sending them the wrong way.

"Hello there, ma'am." A kind voice said. Sakura took notice of this, since most of the voices she heard were loud and rough. She looked up and saw a strange man that she had mistook for a woman for a second. Green eyes sparkled merrily as his red hair hung over his shoulders. The symbol for Yamigakure was sewn on his red shirt and his hitai-ate was tied around his forehead, even though he seemed too…kind to be a ninja. Of course, looks could be very deceiving.

"Good afternoon, do you have a reservation?" she asked. He nodded happily.

"Hai. Three rooms under 'Atsusa'." He said. That was easily found, since the name started with an 'A'. She nodded and went to fetch the keys. As the keys dropped into the smiling man's hand, there was a loud shriek heard from outside.

"MONSTER!!!" Sakura's head shot up and she looked over to Ino, who had the same shocked expression. They both nodded and ran out, but froze at the sight in front of them.

There was a blond male, sitting in the middle of the road. Blood seeped from a small cut on his cheek, spilling over three, whisker-like scars. Blue eyes stared unemotionally towards an obviously distressed woman.

"WHERE'S THE ANBU?! THAT DAMN DEMON IS BACK!!!!" The woman shrieked.

"Stop it!" A voice called. Everyone turned and Sakura was surprised to see the same man that she had just spoke with inside of the inn. The man ran up to the blond on the ground, who seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

"Kyo, did you get he rooms?" He asked as if nothing happened at all. He stood, dusting himself off as he turned towards the red head, now known as Kyo. Sakura was stunned. That face was so familiar, but it was different. She was so used to seeing that face stretched out into a wide grin and those eyes swimming with mischievousness and happiness.

"Naruto…" She heard Ino murmur behind her.

"Of course I did, but never mind that, you're hurt!" Kyo said with a concerned expression, but Naruto waved it off.

"It's nothing, and we expected that, remember? Besides, it's healed already." He said with a soft smile on his face.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here you traitorous, damn, FREAK!" A man growled, walking threateningly towards the blond, but Kyo stepped in front of him. "Move out of the way! That monster isn't worth protecting!"

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not protecting a monster." He said defiantly.

"Why you lousy, son of a-"

"Is there something wrong here?" All eyes turned, once again, and they saw a regal-looking man walk in the middle of the path.

"Tatsuya-sama!" Both Naruto and Kyo stood upright and turned towards the man, bowing respectfully.

_The Yamikage. So that's him…_Ino thought looking at the stern, but gentle looking man. He walked up to Naruto and put a hand on his cheek, wiping some blood onto his fingertips. He then looked at the people in front of him, most either staring at him in shock, or glaring at Naruto.

"Would you be so kind as to explain to me why you attacked one of my nins? That could be interpreted as a declaration of war against my village considering he is the leader of a genin team and there is supposed to be a highly strict law against attacking a genin instructor starting today." He said, calmly, but the anger could be heard in his voice.

"_You're_ nin? Sir, with all due respect, I don't know what that beast has told you, but he is a missing nin from Konoha. The demon hasn't even passed the chunin exams, so there is no way he could be qualified to be an instructor." The man who Kyo had stood up to said, sneering at the blond boy. Disturbingly enough to the elders who have tormented Naruto before, the blond made no effort to even acknowledge that he had been called those things.

"Actually, he had already been pardoned for his crimes by the daimyo himself (I don't know where I heard it, but I heard each country had a daimyo. If it isn't true, I'm sorry). Although his only crimes were leaving and knocking out his teammate. Definitely not something to merit such treatment. Also, the genin instructors are not assigned by their rank as nin, but their ability to teach their teams about the life outside the village." He said. There was a noticeable tick in his eye as he obviously tried to restrain himself from lashing out at the man's insults towards Naruto.

"Tatsuya-sama." Naruto suddenly said. "Sir, the reason we are here is for our genins. Please, do not trouble yourself with trivial matters such as this. You have enough paperwork as it is." He said the last part with a small grin. Tatsuya paled and coughed.

"Yes, well, you need to meet up with your genin team. They have nearly completed the laps you assigned them. Kyo-san, I need to speak with you for a moment, please." Tatsuya said. Kyo nodded and followed him. Sighing, Naruto turned around, and flinched slightly at the sight of the Konoha villagers glaring coldly at him. Then his eyes finally laid on two, familiar girls.

"Hello there Sakura-chan, Ino-chan." He said with a kind smile.

"Naruto…it's…great to see you." Sakura said, not knowing what exactly she could say to him. After all, he'd been gone so long, and they've been fighting to get him back for the same amount of time. Also, she didn't know how to react to this new Naruto she was seeing.

_That must be what he really looks like without his mask. The Naruto I always saw was always so confident and filled with pride. This Naruto…the real Naruto…he looks a lot calmer, and a lot more vulnerable. Yet, the feeling I'm getting from him isn't vulnerability, he has such an air of strength and self-confidence. Is this really him? _She thought looking at the male in front of her.

"Naru-chan!" Naruto turned to see Kyo running towards him. "I almost forgot two things." He said with a smile.

"What is it?" The blond asked.

"This." He said putting three keys in his hand. "And this…" After saying that, he bent down and placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's lips.

* * *

**NM-chan: Hope you enjoy! Yes, Naruto is going to be paired with Kyo. Possibly for the rest of the story unless it leads to the second possible pairing. I really like Kyo, so I don't want to break his heart, but I may if I must. Or I could just do a threesome and they're both happy. I dunno. Read and review, people. I did test this as a chapter and noticed it wasn't as long as I had hoped it was. Damn. Oh well, you got your long chapter, shonen ai, and some fluff! Oh, and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!**


	4. Meet Team Naruto!

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: I updated again! WHEEEE!!!!! Yeah, this chapter is mostly an intro to Naruto's new team and the way Konoha is treating his boyfriend. This is just to get it out of the way, all righty?**

**I saw Tokyo Mew Mew this weekend (long weekend thanks to the snow-day). I wasn't too obsessed with the show (or the fact that it was almost exactly like Sailor Moon in every way, shape, and form), but I did fall completely in love with one of the characters. Kisshu! I know, I know, who cares about that? Well, just to let you know...**

**KISSHU IS IN THE STORY!!! Now, he's not going to be some big eared alien flirt. He's going to be a _normal_ eared _ninja _flirt. You'll see. Honestly, Kisshu's addition into this is just for the sake of having another team member. I had the personalities of the other two figured out, but I was stumped on how the third should be. When I saw Kisshu, I was like, "_There_ is my third team member!" So, yeah, there you go. Just to assure you, the member is based off Kisshu. Same name, hair, and eyes, but the ears are normal, and the personality isn't as psychotic, no matter how cute the original Kisshu's psychoticness was. Sorry for those who don't like the idea, but this is my story, not yours.**

**One more thing before I let you go. I've gotten a lot of reviews saying 'I thought this was going to be SasuNaru', 'what about SasuNaru', 'Your summary promised SasuNaru'. I'm not yelling at you people, I just want you guys to know. I am aware that one of the only reasons I'm getting so many readers is because they skimmed the summary and zeroed in on 'SasuNaru'. Let me show you the summary.**

_**"**Naruto, tired of living in fear, leaves Konoha when the village council draws the last straw. Three years later, he returns. His loyalty, and his heart, given to someone else. **Mostly Naruto!male!OC, some SasuNaru**"_

**See that bold print right there? It clearly states 'Mostly Naruto!male!OC'. There will be SasuNaru, but not until another chapter or two. Maybe I'll have Sasuke confront Naruto and Naruto will tell him. I don't know yet. Please, don't bug me about it. I'm still trying to keep my OC likeable since I was informed that major OC haters liked him. I really don't want to sound like I'm yelling at you people, but I really wish you would read the summary all the way through. Also note that the SasuNaru-ness may not be official. I may keep Naruto and Kyo together or I may have Naruto go back to Sasuke. Hell, I might even decide to do a threesome. I don't know. Until I get that sorted out, please don't bug me too much? Kay?**

Kyo pulled back and smiled gently at the blond male in front of him. "I'll see you tonight, all right Naru-chan?" He said calling behind him as he ran up to the Yamikage.

"Okay. Don't be out too late." Naruto said with a soft smile, waving as the red head got further away. He didn't notice the looks of surprise. If he did, he seemed to be ignoring them. "All right, I got to check on those brats now. Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, it was wonderful seeing you again. Hope we can meet up again before this is over." He said this calmly before running off.

Although he made sure nobody could tell, he did, in fact, notice all the glares he was getting, not only from Konoha, but also from shinobi of other villages as well. Thinking back to a discussion he had with the Yamikage before they left for Konoha, he sighed and hung his head solemnly.

_Tatsuya-sama was right, they really did feel that the law made by the Sandaime wasn't in effect anymore when I officially became a missing nin. This is just terrific, I spent so much time cooped up that I didn't notice more villages were after my head…_ The blond male thought and ran until he completely left the village and he headed for a large lake.

"HEY! QUIT IT!"

"Will you two stop fighting!"

"He started it."

"I don't give a damn who started it, I'll finish it!"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the argument his trio of genins were having. He walked through the trees and saw three twelve-year-olds, two boys, and one girl. They seemed exhausted, but the sitting boys were staring up at a red-haired girl fearfully as she stood over them with a fist raised.

"Maya, Kisshu, Yuki, behave. I don't need a full out war between you three in the middle of a forest you'll surely burn to the ground." Naruto said, walking out of the shadows. The three genin jumped in surprise.

"N-Naruto-sensei!" They cried and Naruto grinned in greeting. He had a pretty interesting team, the oddest of the batch, Kyo told him. Naruto trusted his statement, solely because Kyo knew their parents well, plus the trio had quite a reputation.

Hikaru Kisshu was the oddest of the batch. Green hair and cat-like amber eyes, he often terrified people who didn't know him very well. Although he seemed fearsome, the guy was a complete prankster and a flirt. He was known to pull pranks on anyone who pissed him off. Not enough to cause major damage, but enough to get them angry, that's for sure. He was also always going after any cute girl his way. Among the female population, he was the one who stole their first kiss, so all girls loathed him, not that that stopped him.

His family was a part of the Hikaru clan, a powerful clan with a powerful bloodline. They could take the spirits of a person and bond it with an animal, any animal. The creature produced by these fusions would obey them completely. Kisshu's creations were more…artistic than his parents, and the appearance alone sometimes traumatized his opponents into submission. His parents left their clan, because the clan was becoming power hungry and were planning on raising children from birth as emotionless weapons. They didn't want Kisshu to grow up in that environment so they ran, soon meeting up with Tatsuya and Kyo. Yamigakure was made when Kisshu was about seven.

Fujika Maya is the top konouchi of their year, excelling in genjutsu and taijutsu, but only just perfecting in her ninjutsu. She had fiery red hair and blue eyes, eyes that were sometimes known to seem like they were catching on fire if she got mad, which was on a regular basis. She was angered easily and pretty much the loner type, making it difficult for Naruto to drill the term 'team' into her head at the beginning. He soon found out, much to his pleasure, that she was a very loyal person. Maya was the self-proclaimed leader of the three when Naruto wasn't around, and she held her position by force. Whenever Kisshu was harassing some girl or he and Yuki started arguing, she would put them in their place, using her fist if she had to. Even the blond man had to admit that she sometimes scared him when she really tried.

Her parents were once nins of Kirigakure, but ran along with many others when the ninjas were being blamed and killed for being the cause of war in their village. They took refuge in the mountains where Yamigakure was created. At first, they and the rest of the refuge were hesitant to become part of another hidden village after what happened in Kiri, but they soon warmed up to the idea and Maya, who was already showing promise of being a ninja as a child, was allowed to join the academy, which was one of the first buildings built when Yamigakure was created.

Finally was Omato Yuki. The raven haired, brown-eyed boy was one of the worst in the academy, and he only managed to graduate by the skin of his teeth. Naruto wasn't discouraged to teach him, though. Whenever Yuki came to him to ask for extra help, Naruto was more than happy to agree to it. Although he was still weak with ninjutsu and taijutsu, he was already better than Maya with genjutsu and had chakra control that rivaled Naruto himself. Focusing on his strengths while working on his weaknesses, Naruto determined Yuki to be the medic-nin of the team. Yuki was a pretty shy boy, preferring to blend in rather than stand out like Maya and Kisshu. Yet, when he got to know people, he could be the most outspoken of them all, as long as they weren't in a large, public place.

His parents were actually ordinary merchants, looking for a place to settle down after having him. After going from place to place that already had more than enough shop owners to support them economically, they came across Tatsuya. The man told them he'd be more than happy to welcome them to his village, which was just getting on their feet. It was actually thanks to them that Yamigakure was becoming economically stronger. They only allowed Yuki to join the ninja academy because he was so enthusiastic about it and they were sure that the teachings of a ninja would scare him enough to drop the idea. Unfortunately, they realized his seriousness too late and could do nothing but support him as he went through the academy and graduated.

All in all, Naruto had his hands full, but he honestly didn't mind. His team was an interesting one, and he couldn't say that he was ever bored even for a minute after passing them.

"Naruto-sensei! Are we done yet? We're going to be exhausted by tomorrow! If we're kicked out in the beginning because we're sore all over, it's going to be your fault!" Maya accused.

"Well, you three need to learn the term 'no rest for the weary'. After all, you may get assigned on a mission that will demand 110 percent every day, no matter how exhausted you are from the previous day." Naruto informed them, putting a hand on his waist.

"Naruto-sensei, you're just saying that as an excuse! Sadist!" Kisshu cried. Maya clobbered him on the head before he got a chance to say anything else.

"Have you forgotten who was the idiot who got us into this mess in the first place?" She whispered with a snarl.

"Yeah! You were teasing him about his relationship with Kyo-onii-san!" Yuki said as he bent over. The three tensed in fear as Naruto cleared his throat.

"Have you three forgotten about the heightened senses the furball gave me? I can hear everything your saying." He asked, pointing to his ears.

The one thing he enjoyed the most about Yamigakure was that everyone knew about the Kyuubi. And he meant _everyone_. The adults, the children, it was not a secret from anyone that he was the vessel of the nine tailed fox demon. He liked that everyone knew, mainly because everyone treated him so kindly. They knew about how Konoha had shunned him from birth because of the demon, so they were very sympathetic to him in his first year. Then, people began to like him just because he was him.

Some would say he changed because of this. He didn't smile when he was sad or upset, and he wasn't as loud as he used to be, but that's because he didn't need to anymore. The smiling mask was mostly because he didn't want those who hurt him to see that they hurt him, but no one hurt him anymore. And the loud voice was so people would at least notice him, but many people noticed him, and respected him. Not only as the vessel of the Kyuubi, but also as the one who worked so hard to make Yamigakure the way it was now. People would greet him happily in the morning now. He could shop for food and clothing without being chased out by a woman with a broom or forced to buy the expired or rotting leftovers.

Although he was born in Konoha, he felt Yami was his home…

"Well, let's get going now. I have the keys to the rooms we'll be staying in. Yuki, Kisshu, you two boys will be staying in one room while Maya, being the only girl, has a room to herself." Naruto explained holding up three keys.

"What!" Kisshu said loudly.

"No fair!" Yuki objected.

"Look, she's a girl, and her parents will slaughter me if they find out I let her stay in a room with a couple of boys. So she gets her own room, end of story." Their sensei said with an air of finality.

"Wait, so where are you going to stay, Naruto-sensei?" Yuki asked, noticing the third key.

"Isn't it obvious? He's going to stay with his boyfriend! I think he'll be more tired than us when morning comes!" Kisshu started laughing, but then he yelped as a kunai embedded itself in the earth right next to him. The three looked up and saw Naruto with a noticeable twitch in his eye and a vein throbbing angrily.

"A hundred laps around the lake. GO!"

"KISSHU YOU IDIOT!!!" _Wham!_

"OW!!!"

* * *

Kyo hummed happily as he walked through the marketplace of Konoha. He could feel many glares boring into the back of his head, but he honestly didn't care too much. He suspected that word would get around soon after they found out Naruto was back and he kissed the blond in the middle of the street. Now that he thought of it, it wasn't such a good idea. The last thing Kyo needed was to give the village an excuse to harass his Naru-chan even more then they already did. He hoped that maybe he could make dinner for the blond and the three genin before they got back from their last bit of training before the chunin exams. 

Of course, the problem was actually getting the food. Most of the shops were a little more than hostile to him, along with a lot of their customers. They all had a sign that stated 'employees have a right to refuse service', so even if they didn't kick him out, he couldn't buy anything because every register would refuse to serve him.

_Naru-chan said something about a ramen place. He told me the owners were awfully kind to him. Maybe they're still there. Aw, but I don't want to get him ramen! It's way to unhealthy and he consumed enough as a child to last him for a lifetime. _Kyo thought sadly. But he knew that, if he didn't get supplies soon, he wouldn't have a choice if he didn't want to let them go hungry.

With a sigh, Kyo went into the only shop he hadn't tried yet. Like the others, he felt the glares and heard the whispers. It took all of his self-control not to lash out at them for the things they were calling Naruto, but his hands trembled angrily as he got the food he would need for a while. Kyo hoped that he wouldn't have to go shopping around here for a long time. Maybe he should ask Maya to go shopping. She enjoyed grocery shopping just because it was a feeling of normalcy away from the ninja life. Of course, he could also ask Kisshu. The green haired male may be more successful in convincing the cashiers.

_Yeah, by stealing one of their spirits and combining it with a fly or something. He may just be able to traumatize them into submission. _Kyo held back a fit of laughter at the thought of what creature could be created out of a fly and one of these villager's spirits. He was finally at the register when he managed to calm himself down.

"Sorry, _sir_, but I'm upholding my right as an employee. You're going to have to find another register." The woman at the counter said venomously while crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

_Oh well…I suppose ramen isn't that ba-_ Kyo was cut off from his thoughts by a voice behind him.

"Excuse me! Sir!" The red haired male turned to see a strange woman, about Naruto's age, with short, dark hair and pale lavender eyes. "Thank you so much for holding my things for me. I didn't mean to take that long." She said.

"Um…I'm sorry, but wha-" He was cut off again by the girl.

"There isn't a problem, is there?" She asked the woman, who began sputtering as she quickly scanned the items.

"N-n-no! Of course not, Hyuuga-sama! I didn't know that he…you…please forgive me!" She said finishing and bowing low to the girl.

"Oh, good." The Hyuuga said smiling. She took the bag and Kyo followed her outside, confused by her actions. When the store was out of sight, she turned and gave him the bag.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut in, but I've seen you in a few shops and I was ashamed at how they were treating you." She said shyly. Kyo took the bag and registered what she said in his mind before smiling warmly at her.

"I should be thanking you. You really didn't have to do that, Hyuuga-sama." He said, assuming she was an important person by how the woman was acting.

"Please, Hinata is fine." She insisted.

"Hinata-san, then. Here, this is the money for the groceries." He said handing out the exact amount he saw he pay.

"Oh, there's no need. But…could I ask you something important?" She said, temporarily distracting him from the money.

"Sure, it's the least I could do after how you helped me." He said, pressing the money to her hand. She silently accepted it and paused for a while, as if considering her question.

"Do you…you're from Yamigakure, correct?" She asked him. He nodded and she continued. "Do you know Uzumaki Naruto?"

Kyo was caught off guard by the question. This was the first person he saw speaking of the blond without a look of venom and hatred in their eyes. He knew that Naruto had some that he considered friends here, but the blond assumed that they would all hate him by the time he was back, plus he never really told Kyo much about them.

"Yes, I do know him. Very well, in fact." He said, unconsciously letting the last part slip. He watched as Hinata's face seemed to swell with happiness.

"Are the rumors true? Is he really here?" She asked, although from the sound of her voice, she seemed to almost be pleading for him to say 'yes'. Kyo smiled at that.

"Yes, he is. He's probably with his genin team right now. Are you a friend of his?" She smiled widely and nodded.

"I am. Thank you so much. Please, excuse me." She said before turning and dashing away. Kyo could have sworn she was jumping with joy as she ran into the darkness.

_She was really kind. I should tell Naru-chan about this._ He thought with a gleeful smile. He was glad to see that Naruto still had friends in the village.

* * *

**NM-chan: Hinata's appearance! And she isn't stuttery! That will be explained soon. It was brought to my attention that Sakura was getting quite a lot of attention. So, I thought, let another girl get some of the spotlight! I thought this could have been a little better, but I always think that. Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Happy Tsunade?

**_Run Away_**

**_by: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: I UPDATED!!!!! All right, this is the last chap before the chunin exams and Naruto sees all his pals. This is mostly the explanation of what went on during the meeting with Tatsuya, Kyo, and Tsunade. Some OOCness on Tsunade's part in the beginning, but that will be explained.**

**One more thing, there may be more focus on Naruto's team next chappy. I was just thinking it may be fun to show what they're experiencing as the students of a 'demon'. Let me tell you, they will be giving hell. But that's all I'm going to say. **

**Enjoy!**

You would have to have been in the Hokage tower very long to know that something was wrong. Very wrong. There was just something out of place in the large tower, office of the village's most powerful ninja. It was a small detail out of place, but, to those who knew this place well, it was a very disturbing detail. There was usual stack of paperwork waiting for Tsunade's approval, but there was something different about the way she was reacting to the paperwork…

She was _humming_!

A happy little tune as she went through the paperwork, only stopping when she saw URGENT in large print. Even as more paperwork was brought in, she just thanked the one delivering them and went on signing with such a bright smile on her face.

"Do you think she's sick?" An ANBU asked as he, Shizune, and others watched this almost terrifying scene.

"No, I checked her temperature, she's sober, and, other than the humming, there's no sign she's cracked." She informed them, feeling worried about her friend and their leader.

"When did this start?" a nin coming back from dropping his missions report asked her.

"I think some time after the Yamikage and his assistant came along."

"Do you think they've done something to her?"

"I didn't sense any abnormal chakra pulses from her office."

"Oh my, she's starting to sing now!"

**Three hours earlier: **

"Yamikage-sama, pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face. I hope you were welcomed warmly into the village." Tsunade said putting on her 'friendly political figure' face as she shook the elderly man's hand.

"As warmly as we expected, Hokage-sama. Ma'am, this is my companion, Atsusa Kyo." He said, introducing the redhead next to him.

"It's a pleasure." Kyo said bowing formally. Tsunade nodded with a smile and sat down, the other two doing the same soon after.

"Now, as much as I would like this to be a pleasant meeting between two village leaders, I'm afraid I have to discuss something with you." Tatsuya said, his face stone cold rather than the usual warmth his villagers were more used to. Kyo was next to him, his eyes closed, but his face betrayed no emotion.

"Well then, discuss away. How can I help you?" She asked them. Tatsuya took a folder from Kyo's hands and put it on Tsunade's desk.

"This is concerning one of your missing nins. The daimyo of this country has officially excused him for all his crimes. He has also become an official ninja of my village and is a teacher for a trio of genins. So, any arrest concerning his crimes with this village will be taken as an insult against my village and will not be taken lightly." The dark haired man said to her. Tsunade blinked in surprise as she looked at the folder. She then took out it's contents and spoke while reading over it.

"I don't know what you mean. The only missing nin I can think of is Itachi and Orochimaru, but Itachi is dead and the snake has vanished so I…" She paused as her eyes slowly widened at the name on the paper.

"I am not speaking of those nins. I am speaking of Uzumaki Naruto. We've already had one incident with him not too long ago, but he persuaded me to turn the other cheek. I will not do it again. He is also very much loved by my village, so they will not take any offense to him sitting dow…Hokage-sama, are you laughing?" Tatsuya asked as Tsunade covered her eyes and small giggles left her lips. It wasn't long before she was clutching her sides in laughter. Even Kyo was staring at her with a shocked expression.

"Are you well, Hokage-sama?" He asked seeing her going into fits of laughter.

"Yes, yes I am. I've never felt better! Excuse me for a second." She said as she got up. Walking to one of her many shelves, she opened a drawer, took out a slip of paper, before smirking and tearing that paper to shreds.

"Hokage-sama?" Both males asked, surprised and confused as to what happened. She hummed happily and sat back down on the chair.

"Yamikage-sama, you have no idea how great this news is. I have been wanting to shred that thing for ages now, but never found a good excuse." She said to the shocked males. The two looked at each other before back at the Hokage.

"May I ask what were the contents?" Tatsuya asked. She nodded with an even wider smile.

"That document was a decree by the council that I was to sign once the Chunin exams were over, otherwise I would lose my position. Not that I really care, and I sure as hell wasn't going to sign it even with them breathing down my neck. Anyways, that document was to label Uzumaki Naruto…as an S-class missing nin, making killing him on sight a must. And I just tore it up! This is officially the best day I've had in ages!" She said with a cheerful giggle. The two males were surprised, but then Kyo started smiling and laughing along with her.

"Tsunade-sama. I'm sorry to interrupt, but there are a bunch of civilians outside filing complaints. I think you might want to take care of this personally before your already piling paperwork gets taller." Shizune said opening the door.

"All right, all right. Tell them I'll be right there. Yamikage-sama, Atsusa-san, it was a pleasure meeting with you both. More pleasant that I had expected." She said, smiling despite the hints of weeks of paperwork. Shizune was curious about the sudden cheerfulness, but the sounds of loud shouts outside distracted her.

"I'll show you out. I hope you don't mind going through the back, but things are pretty hectic out front." She said.

"It's quite fine with me." Tatsuya said. Kyo nodded in agreement, but his mind was on a certain blond. He really hoped that the man was doing okay, especially after what happened in the middle of the street.

"Tatsuya-sama, may I ask if you need anything more of me?" He said, looking up at the elder man. The Yamikage smiled gently and shook his head.

"Not today. You be careful, all right? If anything happens, I want you to tell me, are we clear?"

"Yes, sir. Excuse me." When they made it out the back, Kyo dashed off, hoping to possibly make it to the inn. There was a kitchen in the rooms, so he wanted to make dinner to apologize for causing such a fuss earlier.

**Present time **

"I'm really getting worried." Shizune muttered, standing right outside the office. After a while, some decided to let it be, and the change was pretty nice. They didn't have to deal with the deafening shouts when Tsunade was handed more paper. Shizune had her head hung, only seeing the feet of those rushing past her. Then a pair stopped in front of her and the owner of the feet turned to her.

"Hey, you okay?" She looked up and saw the concerned face of Inuzuka Kiba. She hadn't noticed before, but there Akamaru was, right by his best friend's side.

"Hello, Kiba. Back so soon?" She asked with a smile, noticing the folder that contained his mission report. He was probably dropping it off when he noticed her.

"Yeah, hope the village wasn't too quiet without me." He grinned. She sweatdropped, knowing a lot of elders praising for a week's break from the man's dangerous pranks.

"Pretty quiet. You really need to stop. Pretty soon you're going to have the village council on your tail." She scolded. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Well you know what, I'm not afraid of some primped up gang of snobs with sticks up their ungrateful asses. But you know what, I have to say today has turned out pretty good! Especially when Hinata told me the news." He grinned. Shizune blinked.

"News?"

"You didn't hear?! Man, how could you have been left out of the loop! Well, you would never guess who returned after three years of making us run around in circles. Come on, guess." She thought for a moment, then she remembered the fuss in the front of the tower. Add that with Tsunade's sudden perkiness…

"Naruto?!"

"BINGO! She, Sakura, and Ino are off telling everyone about it now! We're planning on paying him a visit later on. Of course, going to his room may not be a good idea. Maybe we can welcome him back during the chunin exams." He said this with a thoughtful look on his face, ignoring the glares he was getting for speaking so friendly about Naruto. He then grinned again and crossed his arms.

"The best thing is, nobody can hurt him without causing a political incident with Yamigakure! He's teaching a genin team, plus I heard he's a pretty close pal with the Yamikage. Long story short, he's safe here for once. Man, I bet the council are seething right now. They worked so hard to make Naruto an S-class, only to find out he's not even part of Konoha anymore! Wish I could see their faces." He snickered. Shizune smiled softly, happy to hear that Naruto was safe from the villagers. That also explained Tsunade's sudden upbeat mood.

"Thank you for telling me. But you should get that down there soon before you get in trouble." She told him, pointing to the report that he still had clutched in his hand. With a small yelp of surprise, he took off. Bidding a small farewell as he vanished behind a corner. Giggling at the sight, Shizune leaned against the wall. Closing her eyes as a soft smile spread across her face.

_He's back…

* * *

_

"Naru-chan, are you here?" Kyo called while walking into the room he and Naruto shared. He had bags on each arm and looked into the darkness, not wanting to turn on the light in case the blond was sleeping.

"Over here." A lamp turned on and he saw Naruto sitting on the bed. His team were sprawled all over the floor, snoring loudly as they slept off the last-minute training their sensei gave them.

"Hey you…what exactly did you do to them?" Kyo asked curiously while setting the bags down. They looked exhausted, and he worried that they may not be in top condition for the exams the next day. Then he noticed a small vial sitting on the counter in their mini-kitchen. "Digging through my potions again?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, Kyo, I've only used that twice now. They really needed it last time and they really need it now. So far, they're blaming it on my _wonderful_ cooking, so I won't let them get dependant on the stuff." Naruto grinned. The potion he was talking about was something Kyo had made. It was supposed to make it so that even after an hour's of sleep the body of the one who took the potion would be fully rested. No muscle or bone pain and no drowsiness the morning after. However, dependence on it would only reduce the shinobi's ability to be prepared no matter how tired they are. The potion was only to be used three time within a 365 day period. No one uses it unless it's an emergency. And the biggest test for a genin counted as an emergency. Especially if their slave-driver of a sensei worked them to the bone the day before.

"Speaking of cooking. How did you get enough food? I thought there wasn't much left over from the trip over. You didn't…" He trailed off, not wanting to bring up the village and the risks of Naruto wandering around, even with the laws against attacking genin teachers during chunin exams.

"No, no. Kira said we had enough left over for every one to have at least one good meal so we don't have to worry until tomorrow about stocking up. Of course…you look like you took care of that for the rest of the month at the least." The blond said. Kyo smiled sadly and walked over to Naruto before sitting down next to him.

"I just don't think we should go out to shops and stuff to often. I'm not saying we should lock ourselves up, but those people were so violent towards you. We may be safe physically, but going to buy things may only get us cold shoulders. It was a miracle I was even able to get us food." He said. Naruto suddenly felt guilty. He knew the only reason the villagers were hostile against him is because they were together.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. Kyo blinked, and then realized what he said.

"It's all right, Naru-chan. Besides, I got help from a nice friend of yours." This caught the blonds attention and his head jerked up. "She helped me buy the food. Her name is Hyuuga Hinata, I think."

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto was surprised, but then he smiled in understanding. Even though he didn't expect his friends to remain his friends, he should have known. Hinata was not able to hate anyone, but with the Hyuugas, where the elders supported his execution three years ago, he was surprised she would help him. He knew her father didn't, but the elders had more influence than the head of the clan.

"She seemed really excited to hear that you returned. You know, you should pay some of your old friends a village. They may not be as spiteful as you think." Kyo suggested.

"Yeah…yeah, I'll do that. Maybe I'll see them at the chunin exams…" He smiled and then his eyes fell on the three genins passed out on the ground.

"We should put them in their rooms. I don't think I can sleep with that snoring." Naruto laughed and nodded. The pair carried the team to their rooms. Naruto taking the two boys while Kyo grabbed Maya. After putting the groceries away, they went to bed.

* * *

**NM-chan: Hope you enjoyed it! Oh, one more thing. I'm having a hard time deciding something very important. Something that has to do with Kyo and Naruto's relationship...**

**Who's seme and who's uke?**

**I mean, the original idea was for Kyo to be seme since he would be providing Naruto a great deal of emotional support and Naruto, being hurt and betrayed by the village he gave so much to, would be uke. However, I've noticed that I've unconsciously made Kyo VERY uke-ish. HELP!**

**Anyways, R&R ppls. It may help me update faster. -grins-**


	6. insert catchy title here

_**Run Away **_

_**By: Naruto's Mask **_

**NM-chan: I...have...100 REVIEWS!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY!!! WHOOPIE! YAHOO! -NM-chan does the happy dance- **

**-ahem- As you can see, I am _so_ excited that I have 100 reviews, and it wouldn't have happened without all of you! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! This chapter is dedicated to _all_ of my reviewers, but mostly to lucky 100, _Clemen_! I hope it won't be long until I get 200, but that's just me hoping. **

**So, about the chapter. It isn't as focused on Team Naruto as I wanted it to be, but that's because I remembered that they're supposed to meet up with Naruto's old friends, so I put some focus on that. I would have made this longer, but, ah, the beauty of cliffhangers. Don't you just _love_ 'em? **

**One more thing before you read. How would you guys think about me making a side story about the adventures of Naruto's team? I mean, _something_ had to happen to build up the relationship between the four. So, what do you think? There is a downside to it, however. It may take time off of _Run Away_ chapter making. So, if you guys don't mind waiting twice as long as usual, I could do it! **

**But, other than that, ON TO THE STORY!!!**

Maya didn't want to wake up, she honestly didn't. She just had a bad feeling that, if she got out of bed, she was going to have one hell of a headache. As her lucid mind registered that thought, she wondered why she felt that would happen.

"Kisshu, don't do that, you're going to burn the inn down!"

"Ack! Someone get a fire extinguisher!"

Oh…that's why.

"All right, Maya, it's time to get up! Today's the day of the exams, come on!" The unbelievably perky voice of her sensei said as her room was opened. She knew he just did it to irritate them awake since no one else in their team was such a morning person.

"Five more minutes." She whined.

"You know, there's a pond not to far from here. I can always toss you into it if you need help getting awake." He said thoughtfully. She could just hear the grin in his voice.

"DAMN IT, SENSEI, YOU ARE WAY TOO HAPPY IN THE MORNINGS!" She finally snapped, jerking up and tossing a pillow at his head. In all honesty, he could have dodged it, but Naruto laughed as the pillow smacked his face and Maya just glared at him.

"You better come on over before Kisshu burns our food. He and Yuki are arguing about it now." He said.

"Yeah, I heard, and I'm sure that everyone in the Fire Country heard it too. Now, come on, Naruto-sensei, I wanna sleep!" Maya whined burying her face in a second pillow.

"Ah, well, I suppose you'll just have to live with the other two teams constantly teasing you on how you didn't come to the exams because you were afraid to embarrass yourself in front of everyone there." The blond said, taking a jab at her pride. She suddenly jerked up and glared at the wall.

"Oh no, no way in hell am I going to let those jerks poke fun at me!" She cried jumping up. "KISSHU! YUKI! LET'S GO! WE'VE GOT AN EXAM TO PASS!" She cried running out of the room. Naruto sweatdropped and grabbed her arm before she went bounding down the stairs.

"You, uh, may want to change first." He pointed out. Maya blinked and then looked down at her white spaghetti-strap shirt and hot pink pants that had little bunny faces dotting it.

"Er, right. But as soon as I'm done, we're going to the exams!" She announced loudly before running back into her room and locking it shut.

"Naru-chan, did you tell her that the exams are two hours away?" Kyo asked poking his head out of their own room.

"Why take the pressure off? This is the most active I've ever seen her in the morning." Naruto said with a laugh. Then he noticed something in the air and he sniffed around.

"Kisshu! What the hell are you doing to our food?!"

* * *

"I wonder how it's possible for someone to burn food they didn't even cook. You were just supposed to warm it up, Kisshu!" Yuki said a while after they had gotten everything cleaned up. Kisshu had his eyes closed with his hands behind his neck. 

"Come on, can you drop it already? I said I was sorry. And you know stoves hate me! I can't even boil water!" He said defensively.

"You idiot! The reason you suck so much at cooking is because you don't know how to follow directions! Naruto-sensei told you to watch the food and take it off the heat when it boils. Not up the heat and wait for it to catch on fire!" Maya snapped, whacking her teammate across the head.

"Itai!"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, trying unsuccessfully to decrease the growing headache his team was giving him. He was so sure Kisshu wouldn't burn the food with Yuki keeping an extra set of eyes on him. Unfortunately, the green haired male managed to increase the heat when Yuki took his eyes off for a second and then distracted the poor boy by starting an argument that lasted quite a while. They didn't realize the condition of the food until smoke started filling the room.

_Never again, Naruto. Next time, you watch the food yourself. And never let Kisshu go near a kitchen ever again._ He thought with a heavy sigh. This was the second time already Kisshu let their food burn.

"You three remembered your registration forms, right?" He asked them as they neared the site.

"Hai, sensei." The three chorused. As they walked, Naruto saw the exam site. Curiously enough, there was a bit of a crowd gathering at the enterance.

"Is that the place, Naruto-sensei?" Yuki asked curiously. The blond male nodded and Kisshu grinned before bopping Yuki on the head.

"I'll bet I can beat you there, pipsqueak!" He teased before taking off.

"Hey, Kisshu, that's not fair!" Yuki protested and ran after Kisshu. The green-haired male ran faster, and, in the process, he rammed into Maya.

"You idiot! I'm going to kill you for that!" She snapped.

_Here we go again._ Naruto thought watching them go. He smiled fondly before walking after them. He watched Maya finally catch up to Kisshu, giving him a few well-deserved knocks to the head in the process. As he neared, his eyes widened when he realized who exactly were standing outside the exam site.

_Oh shi-_

"Naruto-sensei! Hurry up!" Maya called.

* * *

"Hinata-sama, you should slow down." Neji said as he walked down the street with his cousin. They were nearing the meeting place where nearly everyone they knew, and were friendly with, were waiting for an old friend that none of them have seen in three years. 

Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who affected all their lives one way or another. Neji noticed the gradual changes that he knew were due to the blonde's influence. The greatest change that he had noticed was in his own cousin, Hinata. She had become more confident with herself and was becoming a strong and very respected konouchi. The elders of their clan had no more doubts that she was to be the next clan head.

He remembered how happy she was when she ran up to him, telling him that she just spoke with a man that knew Naruto, and confirmed that the blond man was in the village. They had known before hand, of course, when Sakura and Ino told them, but she just had to make sure. It's been a while since Neji had seen her smile like that.

"But, Neji-nii-san, we might miss him." She argued, worry evident on her face at the thought of missing the earliest chance to see her childhood crush. Although she still cared deeply for the blond man, she didn't have the same crush as she did all those years ago.

"Hey there, you two! It's about time!" A loud voice cried as they neared the site for the Chunin exams. The two Hyuugas turned to the voice, and noticed a large group that consisted of the original Rookie Nine, plus his own team and minus Naruto, of course, their senseis, Iruka, and Shizune. Neji suspected Tsunade couldn't come because she may currently be in an argument with the council concerning Naruto.

"Good morning, Kiba-kun." Hinata said politely while Neji glared at the other male. Considering he was the closest thing she had to an older brother, he seemed to receive the 'older brother protective instincts'. Neji knew very well that Kiba was trying to win his cousin's heart after they found out she wasn't in love with Naruto anymore.

"He hasn't come by yet, so you don't have to worry." Ino said, noticing the worried look on Hinata's face. They Hyuuga heiress smiled happily at the news.

"Thank you." She said.

"Does anyone know when Naruto-kun is going to arrive?" Lee asked impatiently.

"Who knows? The exams don't start for a while now, so it could be a while." Tenten answered.

"Do not, worry, Lee! It is obvious Naruto-kun is testing our loyalty to him! We shall wait until the end of time until he arrives!" Gai announced loudly, drawing a sigh from his two ex-students.

"Gai-sensei, you're a genius! I would have never guessed Naruto-kun would put us under such a test! I will wait no matter how long it takes him to arrive. If I give up before then, I shall run around the village one million times!" the young clone announced.

"You would think they would have grown out of this already." Kurenai sighed shaking her head.

"Gai is a grown man and he still hasn't grown out of it. Do you really think Lee isn't going to do the same?" Kakashi said, still reading his book.

"Look who's talking. You still haven't grown out of _that_." Sakura replied, crossing her arms and pointing to the book. You could hear Kakashi snicker and she was sure he was smirking under that mask.

"Ah, but this is for _adult_ entertainment. Only those who have grown can read this sort of thing." He said, his visible eye curled upward.

"It's trash." Sasuke said behind him. There was some laughter at the gray haired teacher's expense before things became silent again.

"Hey…" Sakura said, breaking the silence after a few minutes. "Do you think…that Naruto will come back if we ask him?" The air became noticeably tense after the question was asked, because it was on everyone else's mind as well.

"He probably will." Shikamaru finally answered, "But will it really be in his best interest? Think about it, the only reason he's physically safe at the moment is because he is the sensei to a team of exam participants. Should he give that up and swear himself to this village again, do you really think he'll be safe from the village's wrath?"

"He's got a point there." Choji said between bites of food after the explanation was over.

"Yeah, so what else is new?" Ino sighed. As things became silenced again, Sasuke lost himself in his own thoughts.

_If he's part of Yami now, does that mean he'll leave once the exams are finished? What if he doesn't come back again?_ He growled and clenched his fists. _Would he really leave after knowing how hard we worked to find him? _

"Man, look at those kids. Someone really should put a leash on them." Ino said, breaking the Uchiha out of his thoughts.

"You idiot! I'm going to kill you for that!" a red haired girl shouted at a boy with strange, green hair. Behind them was another boy, except with black hair. All three of them had on the hitai-ate for Yamigakure.

Kiba couldn't help but snicker as the girl caught up with the green haired boy and started pounding the life out of him. "You go girl!" He cheered, bringing some laughter to break the tense atmosphere.

"That must be their sensei over there." Hinata pointed to a blond figure. They couldn't really see their face, but they didn't need the man's face to realize who he was.

"Naruto-sensei! Hurry up!"

* * *

**NM-chan: Review people! I can't wait for number 200. Ah, and do give your opinion about the side story idea. Please?**


	7. So it begins

_**Run Away**_

_**By: Naruto's Mask**_

**NM-chan: Another century, another chapter. I'm sorry, but this one is shorter than usual. Usually I try to type up at least six pages, but this is about four. That's because, once again, I found a beautiful cliffhanger! I know you hate 'em, but I have to do something to make my readers want to read more! **

**Honestly, the whole 'Naruto's Back' scene wasn't my best. I think it could have been better, but I rewrote it a hundred times! This was the best I got! So, you get what I give you. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and one more thing. If you read my story **_**I Remember**_** then you would know that I'm suddenly unhappy with the SasuNaru pairing, so I will most likely not get them together. Rest assured, you will see the SasuNaru-ness, but it won't be the main, final, concrete pairing. Sorry for those who had their hopes up!**

The three genins watched as a tense air suddenly surrounded their sensei and the crowd of people right next to them. Naruto's head was lowered, and the laughter from the group stopped abruptly, making Maya wonder if she said something wrong. She couldn't have, right? All she did was call out her sensei's name.

Naruto took a deep breath and sighed before turning to his team. "Maya, stop pounding Kisshu into a pulp. It's going to be a disadvantage to your teamwork if he's half dead when you take the exam." Yuki's eyes narrowed in concern. Naruto had a false smile plastered on his face, one that none of them had seen since the blond had recovered and first started living in Yamigakure.

"All right." Maya said dropping the green haired boy to the ground. He just stayed there, moaning as the bumps on his head started throbbing.

"Naruto…" A soft voice cut off their conversation and Naruto, whose back was facing the large group, visibly tensed as his name was called. He turned to the group, his smile never leaving his face.

"Hey there you guys. I honestly didn't expect you all to be here. This is…quite a surprise." He said.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiba suddenly said. Naruto flinched as the dog-man walked up to him threateningly, a pissed off expression on his face. "I would never pass up a chance to knock you across the head after the hell you put us through for the past three years! Why did you just up and leave without even saying a word to any of us? Did you really think we're shallow enough to give a damn about the Kyuubi? We're your friends you stupid idiot!" Naruto blinked after the outburst, not having expected that to be what Kiba was mad about.

"Calm down, you troublesome man." Shikamaru sighed.

"What he's _trying_ to say, Naruto…" Ino muttered, glaring at Kiba, who was panting because of his loud yelling fit. "Is that, we missed you. A lot."

"You did?" Naruto asked, truly surprised. He didn't expect this many to care about him. Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-baa-chan, maybe, but he wasn't too sure about everyone else.

"Tch, of course. Without you around, Kiba and your 'pupils' caused mayhem in the village in your place." Shikamaru muttered.

"Pupils?"

"Konohamaru and his little gang."

"Ohhh…" There was an uncomfortable silence, until Naruto felt someone pat the top of his head. He looked up at Kakashi, who had appeared behind him when no one was paying attention.

"We missed you." Was all the masked nin had to say. Then, the blond felt a pair of arms wrap around him and he turned to see Iruka, who was smiling happily at him.

"We missed you a lot." That caused everyone else to come up to him and greet him happily back to the village, with Kiba living up to his speech and whacking Naruto on the top of his head before joining in the peaceful reunion.

"NARUTO-KUN! WE HAVE SEARCHED LONG AND WIDE FOR YOU! YOU'RE APPEARANCE HAS REKINDLED THE FIRES OF YOUTH FOR EVERYONE IN YOUR PRESENCE!!!!!!" Lee cried wrapping an arm around Naruto, causing the peaceful atmosphere to shatter. They heard an unfamiliar giggle, and were all reminded about the three genins that were being left out.

"Naruto-sensei, you have some weird friends." Maya said. Kisshu was laughing his head off at the antics of the Taijutsu master and Yuki was both laughing, and looking relieved that his sensei's false smile was no longer there.

"Uh oh, almost forgot about the exams! You three need to get going now." Naruto said, suddenly remembering the reason they were there in the first place.

"All right, sensei! You know, the moment we leave the exam area, all three of us are going to be official chunins!" Kisshu declared.

"Hell yeah!" Maya said in agreement. Yuki just giggled a bit, knowing something that the two didn't and also knowing the final teasing Naruto was going to give the two before they left for the exams.

"No you won't!" Naruto said, crossing his arms sternly, which caused the two to frown.

"What, don't you have any faith in us, Naruto-sensei?" Maya asked.

"It's got nothing to do with faith, Maya. It's just that, the next time you three leave the area, you're all going to be spending the month preparing for the final part." He said this with a straight face, but the comment made the two face fault.

"Even I knew that, you two." Yuki said poking at Kisshu, whose face was still in the dirt. The Hikaru jumped up with a glare and started chasing the youngest male, who shouted in fear, but was still laughing.

"Maya?" Naruto asked, bending down to the girl's eye level.

"I'll make sure they behave." She gave him a thumbs up and ran after her teammates, fully prepared to remind them who exactly they voted team leader…even if they were threatened to vote for her or suffer bodily harm.

"So that's your team?" Sakura asked, her expression still happy because of the reunion.

"Yeah. A wild bunch, but you gotta love 'em." He said fondly. His head shot up, as if he remembered something, then turned to his friends. "I'm sorry, but there are some things I still need to take care of. I have to go now. Maybe we can finish catching up a little later on today?" He suggested.

"How about over lunch?" Ino asked with a cheerful smile, causing him to tilt his head in confusion. "Well, we need to celebrate! We've been worried sick about you because of the council wanting to label you an S-class missing nin. Now that we know they can't do a thing to you, that is a cause for celebration." She said with a grin.

Naruto smiled at her. "Sure. But that means I need to get going now so I can make sure I don't need to take care of anything during lunch."

"We'll swing by your room at 1, okay?" Sakura called as he walked away hastily.

"Sure thing! My room is 228, got that?" She nodded and he waved goodbye before he started running away. Even after he left, a pleasant feeling was still present within them, but one person noticed something was wrong.

"Sasuke-kun?" Hinata said, turning to the Uchiha in confusion. "Why didn't you say anything to him?"

* * *

"Wow, that genjutsu sure was weak." Maya said as she and her team walked up the stairs. They had successfully realized the genjutsu, and were able to sneak past the crowd forming around the false entrance to the exams. That just meant less competition for them. 

"Sure, for you and Yuki there, but you know my genjutsu sucks! I was completely fooled!" Kisshu whined.

"Shush! Do you want them to hear us?" Yuki asked quietly. Kisshu was the loudest of all three of them. Apparently it was genetic since the rest of his family was as well.

"I am so excited! What do you think it's going to be like in there?" Maya asked, suddenly feeling giddy.

"Pain and torment, swimming with evil, with no hope of escape except for passing." Kisshu suggested, a serious expression on his face.

"No, you're thinking about the academy." Yuki joked, lightening up the atmosphere enough to calm them all down as they laughed. Their laughter ceased as they found the true entrance to the Chunin exams. Yuki and Maya made sure there wasn't a genjutsu of any sort, and Kisshu checked for traps.

"Well, this is it." Maya sighed. All three of them were suddenly hit with one of the most life-changing events in their shinobi career. Even though graduating from the academy made everyone look at them as if they were adults, they were still children. The lowest rank. Rookies. Becoming a chunin would truly label them as an adult who is ready to face the world. As a chunin, they could get actual jobs. Whether it is at the academy, or working for the Yamikage. They could also aim for even higher positions, but, at the moment, all they had to worry about was becoming a chunin.

"Man, it seemed like only yesterday that we were just a couple of snot-nosed academy students. To think it's only been a year." Kisshu grinned.

"A year of Naruto-sensei trying to make us into a team. Throwing us in the middle of the mountains for a month, making us do these lame D-class mission, not to mention torturing us on our first few weeks." Maya sighed.

"Don't forget him making us read Shakespeare so we could figure out the phrase 'look underneath the underneath'."

"Ugh, don't remind me! That was way too much thinking!" Kisshu whined, making them laugh. Then they slowly stopped when they remembered what they were here for in the first place.

"All right then! We should go now!" Yuki announced, even though a bit nervous.

"Yup…Kisshu, why don't you do the honors?" Maya suggested. The green haired male shrugged and grabbed the handle.

The door opened…

* * *

**NM-chan: There you go. Once again, I though the whole 'Naruto's Back' scene could have been better. Too bad my brain didn't want to produce something better. STUPID BRAIN!!!! GRAAAR!!!!!**

**Oh, and I need to ask. Do you want Team Naruto to be the only genin team from Yamigakure at the exams (because it is likely that they're the only ones who qualified for it, having such an awesome teacher and all) or can you people stand a few more OCs? It's gonna be torture for me to come up with one or two more teams with three or six more names, but I live to please. Tell me what you think!**

**Which means, REVIEW!!!!!!**


	8. This is a chapter, right?

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: -ahem- Welcome, one and all, to the world of Writer-Block-Induced Fillers. This doesn't have much to do with the actual plot, but there is some revelation of the council's attitude, and Kyo acting more seme-ish since it was popular vote for him to be seme. Plus, I also had to put in the reason why Sasuke couldn't speak to Naruto. I knew why he couldn't! I honestly did!**

**-bodiless being-: Hey there! I'm NM-chan's imaginary friend, and I'm just here to tell you that she actually had no clue why Sasuke didn't say anything to Naruto, she just didn't feel like making a mushy moment at the time and made an excuse! So, forgive her if she's just rambling at Sasuke's part. **

**NM-chan: That's enough, Bob! Jeeze, I thought I got rid of you in therepy!**

**Bob: YOU WILL NEVER GET RID OF ME! I mean, after all, I live in your mind, and do you have any idea how dirty it is in there? I swear, it's like the thing's in a gutter or something!**

**NM-chan: The result of nose-bleed causing pictures and fanfics. _Anyways_, let's just get on with the story! I don't own anyone but Kyo and all my other OCs. Enjoy!**

"Tsunade-san, you have to understand. We cannot allow those children to participate."

"That are the students of that…that _demon_! If they are allowed to participate in the exams, they will surely kill everyone there!"

"And the Yamikage actually _trusts_ that beast. The demon should be put to death before he corrupts the minds of anyone else. Before he turns every village against us!"

Tsunade sighed as she stood in the middle of the village council. These old farts were as closed-minded as ever. And she was _this _close to smacking all of them across the head for calling her little brother those things. Well, at least she as the satisfaction of knowing that she can shove it in their faces that they could not touch the blond male.

"Are you looking to go to war with another village? If we so much as touch Naruto the wrong way, the Yamikage is going to send his entire force after us. We're still weak from the war with Otogakure. If we get another village pissed off, one that has enough skills and power to make up for their lack of numbers, we won't stand a chance. These exams were supposed to serve as an anchor to possible _ally_ with Yami, not start a war with them." She explained, inwardly smirking at the infuriated looks on their wrinkled faces. They knew she was right, they just didn't want to admit it.

"Why would we want to ally with a village that trusts monsters?" One of the old men snarled. Tsunade couldn't help but sigh heavily.

_Maybe because they're smart enough to know the difference between a demon and a demon vessel._ She thought shaking her head.

"Besides, the Uchiha already took care of Orochimaru. If he can take care of a sannin, then a village full of demon-lovers won't be a problem." One of the women smirked. Tsunade couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was not Sasuke who killed Orochimaru, but Naruto who weakened the snake before Tsunade and Jiraiya came to help him. Once again, everyone refused to accept Naruto would be smart and strong enough to be a formidable opponent for a sannin.

Not being able to take anymore of the council's hardheadedness and complete refusal to accept when they're wrong, Tsunade turned to leave without another word.

"What do you think you're doing? We're not done here." The blond woman snarled and turned to glare at them.

"Yes we are. I'm not going to stand here and listen to your closed-minded ideals. You might not accept this, but Naruto _is_ not, _was_ not, and _will never_ be a demon. If you opened your eyes, you would see how much he's saved this village, this village that _never_ deserved his protection. You thank me for saving the lives of ninjas in the hospital every day? Guess what, if it weren't for Naruto, I would have never come back. You're grateful that Uchiha Sasuke returned, it was Naruto who brought him back in the first place."

"After nearly killing him!" Whoever said that was brave, but their bravery faltered because of Tsunade's worse-than-Uchiha-and-Hyuuga-combined glare.

"Oh yes, that is a problem. Sasuke wasn't supposed to be brought back to the village half-dead, he was supposed to be killed on sight! He was an S-class missing-nin, but what happened? He got off with house arrest for a year and Naruto, the one who nearly died trying to bring him back, was almost executed. Well, I agree, Naruto should have been punished. However, not for hurting the Uchiha brat, but for _not_ killing him. I had already ordered ANBU to kill Sasuke, the brat was just lucky that Naruto found him first." She was pissed off by now at these people. For years, she's put up with their prejudice against Naruto. Sure, she's complained about it a lot, but she never did too much about it. Now, she was just fed up.

"Naruto is not part of the village anymore. The daimyo has excused him of the little crimes he's committed. He is a proud ninja of Yamigakure. Many villages already hate us because of our strength, but that strength has weakened and we're only just getting stronger. They will not hesitate to join Yami's side should they decided to go to war with us. If you're too busy trying to convince yourself that a child, a child that saved your asses merely by being alive, is nothing more than a monster, then at least open your eyes to this. Konoha is weak, and any conflict, even with a new village, may destroy us completely, and it will be your fault." With these final words, Tsunade left. Shutting the door angrily behind her.

"You sure showed them." The woman was leaning against the door, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself from her outburst, when a familiar voice cut through the silence of the hall.

"I see word's gotten around to you?" She smiled, glad for the company of someone who won't piss her off in the same way the council just did.

"Yup. I was just passing by to see what you were going to do about the council forcing the S-class title on Naruto, but was pleasantly surprised to hear the brat has gotten himself in and out of trouble again." The toad sannin grinned as he walked alongside his old teammate.

"Yeah, that's Naruto all right." She said with a fond smile. Then she shook her head with a sigh. "I swear, the moment I see that twerp, I will punch him through the wall! Three years of headache, only to figure out that the people giving me the headache were wasting their time!"

Jiraiya laughed loudly at that. It's been a while since Tsunade has threatened to punch someone through a wall. A nostalgic feeling swept over them as a feeling of normalcy that the two old friends haven't felt in years settled in the atmosphere.

"Hey, I heard that the brat's got himself a team participating in the exams." He mused, earning a smirk from the blond woman.

"That is true, and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing their progress. With Naruto as a sensei, I think this exam is going to be pretty interesting." They laughed and walked down the halls, not noticing the slight chill in the air after Tsunade finished her sentence.

* * *

Sasuke growled at himself as he walked to his house. He had a dark aura surrounding him, making anyone who wanted to talk to him think twice. He was pissed off because, after three years, three years of breaking his back, going after every clue available, and having dreams of their reunion and what they would say to each other, what happens when they finally meet up? The Uchiha says absolutely NOTHING!!! He just stood there, watching everyone else either happily embrace him, or give him other forms of welcome. Then Naruto gives a few words to his team, and leaves to take care of errands. And all through that, Uchiha Sasuke says absolutely nothing.

He didn't know why, but he just _couldn't_ say anything. When he saw Naruto turn to them, he just froze up but…why? That, he couldn't even explain to himself. Luckily for him, he could have a second chance. Sakura knew where Naruto was staying, so she offered for the Uchiha to accompany her while she went to pick him up. This time, he wouldn't freeze up when he saw Naruto. He needed to thank the blond, and he needed to tell him how much…

_How much he means to me…_Sasuke thought, his angry aura turning into a calmer one as he thought about the one who had been on his mind for years, even before the disappearance. It took the Uchiha a while before he realized what the thoughts meant, but he soon realized his feeling for Naruto.

Of course, when he realized said feelings, Sasuke nearly had a heart attack, but he recovered. After that, he made a promise to himself that he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of being with the blond. After all, and Uchiha always gets what he wants.

It was too bad he didn't realize that not everything was going to be served to an Uchiha on a silver platter, especially not the heart of someone who has already given it away.

* * *

**ACHOO!!!! **

Naruto sniffed as he tried to recover from the dizziness caused by the loud, and kind of painful, sneeze. He sniffed and sighed in both annoyance, and exhaustion.

_I better not be getting a cold! I can't afford to get a cold now!_ He thought as he looked through papers and documents. Most of the work should have been distributed to organized groups formed exactly for this purpose, but there were not a lot of people in Yami qualified, and it would be a while before the training for the new workers was completed. So, for the time, Tatsuya had no choice but to distribute it to those most qualified, and Naruto, taking some training from Tsunade and Iruka, qualified for most of the document-based jobs, and he's taken as much work as he could to take off stress from those who were still getting used to their lives in Yami. Of course, all that did was put more stress on himself.

"Naruto, you're not starting to get sick, are you?" The blond turned and smiled at Kyo, who was looking at him worriedly from his own work, which was a lot less than what he had.

"No! No, I'm fine." He said with a grin, but the yawn that broke through it made the claim seem completely false. Kyo smiled halfheartedly and walked over to his blond boyfriend. Without saying a word, he took Naruto by the hand and took him off the chair.

"Come on." He said laying the blond on the bed.

"What are you doing? I still –yawn- have a lot more to do before the week is over." He complained, but the redhead wouldn't hear of it. He pushed Naruto to the bed and when he tried to escape, Kyo just straddled his hips and pinned his arms onto the mattress.

"Look, you've been working yourself to the bone for weeks. And you got up so early this morning, I doubt you got more that three hours of sleep last night. So, I'm going to make you lay down in bed, even if I have to tie you up." He said with a stubborn, but concerned look in his eyes. Even so, Naruto knew he still had too much work to do to rest.

"But-"

"Sorry, Naru-chan, no 'buts'." Kyo put on a stern face, but then he smiled and kissed the blond gently on the lips. "Rest. You still have that welcome back party with your friends, and I think the last thing you want is to fall asleep in the middle of it." He tried to reason with him.

"You're not letting me up no matter how much I complain are you?" Naruto asked.

"Nope." The longhaired male grinned and kissed him again. Naruto finally sighed and surrendered, allowing his already heavy eyelids to drift close. Kyo got off and put the blankets on the slumbering man. His green eyes then turned to the clock.

_Eleven o'clock, that's good. He can get a few more hours of sleep before they come over to pick him up. _He smiled and looked over at the pile where Naruto's work was spread across and the man sighed.

"You amaze me more and more everyday, Naru-chan, I don't know anybody who can volunteer for all this work at once and stay sane." He said sweatdropping and putting them all into a pile, a pretty big pile. "My Naru-chan, the masochist. That would be a pretty good conversation starter." He smiled to himself, and shut off the lights, allowing the blond male to sleep peacefully.

* * *

**NM-chan: All right, filler is over, you can all come out of your rooms now. This was an excuse for KyoNaru fluff and to make the guy a little more seme-ish. As for Sasuke's part, that was an excuse to reveal his feelings, and to get it out of the way! Please listen to Bob and forgive the ramble!!!**

**Bob: Oh boy, here comes the waterworks. Hey, guys, can you do her a favor and drop a review? You know, tell her that this didn't suck as much as she thought it did. At least it didn't take as long as usual, you've got to give her some credit for that. And, if you do drop a word or two, I'll try to get her to start rolling along with the actual plot, and give Team Naruto a chance to shine.**

**NM-chan: Aw, Bob still loves me! I knew I shouldn't have tried to get rid of you in therepy!**

**Oh, before I let you go, I still need votes on the addition of OCs. A lot think that there shouldn't be anymore, but I'm leaving the polls open. So, R&R...please?**


	9. Exams and MarkSteve!

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: -huddled up in the Corner of Gloom**™**-**

**Bob: Er...for those of you wondering why she's depressed, let me explain. All right, this girl was happy and bouncy this morning that she FINALLY finished a chapter, goes on the computer and sees that she's got a few extra reviews from before, and, with a happy smile, decideds to check them.**

**What does she find? A review not only putting down her work, but also calling Kyo a 'Mark-Steve', which is basically a male form of a Mary-Sue, for those who can't tell. Now, she took pride and worked hard to try and make him seem completely original and make him seem like a Naruto character. With reviews telling her that they hate OCs in general, but love her OCs, she was pretty giddy. So, this review totally crumpled her confidence and she doesn't want to talk at the moment (even though, technically, she is talking to you, but don't point that out). **

**She loved Kyo and sees him as her best work, her baby (as creepy as that sounds). So, him being called a Mark-Steve is making her rethink everything she's ever written and is now going through ALL her OCs and trying to see if any of them fit the Mary-Sue/Mark-Steve description. Many have told her they don't, but she doesn't listen to anyone.**

**Anyways, if she doesn't update for a while, it's because she's still in the Corner of Gloom**™

It was common for things to be relatively silent in the beginning of the Chunin Exams. After all, every team was your enemy in the first two parts of the exams, both of which were commonly pass-fail-as-a-team events. The third part was usually based on the individual, but they had a month before then to worry about that. Anyways, back on subject. With everyone being tense and anxious about the exams, there was usually no talking, no conflicts. It was just silence. Unbelievably tense silence. To many, the beginning of the exam was a test itself, to show who were weak-minded enough to fall under the pressure of the atmosphere.

This year's exam was pretty…interesting, per say. Not because the team taught by a 'demon' was participating, no. Everyone expected this team to be full of glowering, bloodthirsty, murderers. Why? Well, of course, because their sensei is a demon of course! However, this was not the case, as one, who confronted the team, figured out.

This was what was currently happening to a 'brave' shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Grass. He decided to confront the 'Demon Team' and tell them to take a hike before they call the exorcists on them. A rather weak threat, but it brought up a few snickers from the crowd. Things became tense again when the three from Yamigakure stood up from their seat, and everyone expected them to kill the Grass shinobi on the spot.

This didn't happen, however.

"Why…why is everybody calling us demons? We just got here yesterday, and everyone hates us already! Why…please tell me." The Grass boy took a step back as he looked into watery, blue eyes.

He jerked back in surprise as the red haired girl in front of him started giving him the 'kicked puppy' look, a look you wouldn't expect on a shinobi, and one that no one was expecting from this trio of 'monsters'.

"B-because you are! The lot of you! You're all bloodthirsty _demons_." He said, regaining his confidence, but he flinched back when the girl's lip quivered. Then, quite abruptly, she began to wail loudly.

"M-Maya, come on, don't cry!" Her green-haired teammate said, rushing to her, but then he tripped and fell on his face.

"Maya! Kisshu! Aw, man, the last thing we need is for you two to be hurt! We're going to fail, I know it!" The third cried, suddenly panicking. Everyone sweatdropped at the scene before them. One thought ran through their heads.

_How the hell did these three become shinobi!?!_

Ah, the beauty of amateurs, no? It seems that their 'human' senseis never taught them the art of deception. The more you know about your enemies, and the less they know about you, the better your mission will be. And that's what this exam was to this team, a mission, and one that they will do anything to complete. So what if they lost most of their dignity along the way? They can get it back later after they kick the crap out of everyone that called their sensei a demon.

They had thought this up the other day on their way back from training. As mad as they were getting at the people for glaring and whispering about their sensei (they could tell from the way they were looking at him), the three knew that the blond man would be upset with them should they do something violent. They decided they weren't going to do anything…yet…

Yuki was the one who first suggested they act differently than they usually do to lure their opponents in the wrong direction. They picked out a few of the worst quality a ninja could have and tried to pick one they could easily do. Kisshu picked clumsiness, because he could deal with falling on his face every ten steps. He pointed out that Maya could play the role of a sensitive little girl to perfection since she was good at using the puppy-dog eyes. She didn't like the idea of crying every time someone says something bad, but decided that it was either that, or overconfident jerk. She was confident, but the last thing she was going to do was act like she was some big-headed snob who doesn't care about anyone but themselves. Yuki originally though he would be good at playing the meek/weak one since he was already a bit shy to begin with and he wasn't that strong. That made Maya smack him across the head for calling himself weak and Kisshu picked out loud/panicky for him. Yuki knew this was going to haunt him for the rest of his life, but his teammates were terribly persuasive.

So there they were, Maya crying her eyes out, Kisshu rubbing his abused nose, and Yuki, himself, nearly tearing out his hair while yelling 'there is no way we're going to pass this test!!!' And the only thing everyone in the room could do was stare…

And stare…

And stare…

This was going to be one interesting exam.

* * *

"225, 226, 227, here we go! 228!" Sakura smiled in triumph as they finally got to the room. Sasuke was behind her, quiet as usual, but she wouldn't let his obviously sour attitude ruin hers.

_It's awfully quiet. I hope he's in there._ She thought before bringing her hand to knock on the door. At first…nothing, but after she knocked a second time, there was a rustling of sheets and she could hear footsteps coming to the door.

"Hey there Naru-" She stopped when she realized the male in front of her was not Naruto. In fact, she remembered him to be the man that not only stood against one of the villagers, but also kissed Naruto on the street. The very memory made her blush slightly.

"Good afternoon. You must be two of Naru-chan's friends, am I right?" He asked with a gentle smile. Sasuke felt a small spark of anger at the nickname, one that sounded _too_much like a pet name between lovers.

"Yes! I'm sorry, but did we get the wrong room?" Sakura asked, ignoring the irritated aura behind her. She vaguely recalled that it slipped both Ino's and her own mind about the kiss in front of the inn, thus, they failed to fill their friends in on that little detail.

"Oh, no, he's in here. Come on in, I need to wake him up." He said. The pair came in, obviously confused since Naruto had told them he was busy and would be working. They then came upon two desks, one with the drawers and one that was just a table. The table had two large stacks of paper, one smaller than the other. When Sakura looked at it, the smaller pile had writing on it while the larger one was paperwork that hadn't been written on.

_Is this what Naruto's been doing? It doesn't look nearly as much as what Tsunade-sama does, but that still looks like a lot of work._ She thought.

"Naruto, wakey, wakey. Time to get up." The redhead that she knew as Kyo said in a sing-song voice.

"Nnn, you're starting to sound like a girl, Kyo." Was the reply coming from a lump on the bed. "What time is it?"

"1:05." Suddenly, the lump shot up and the blond was out of bed instantly.

"They're going to be here any minute! Kyo, why didn't you wake me up?" The last part was said in a whine, causing the redhead to grin.

"You were just so cute sleeping, I couldn't wake you."

"What, were you watching me sleep the entire time?"

"Not the _entire_ time." That sentence obviously stated he did watch Naruto sleeping, just not the whole two hours.

"Hey there, Naruto!" Sakura said a bit louder than usual. She giggled at the shocked expression on his face. He was probably too busy panicking to notice the two extra chakra signatures in the room.

"Sakura! Sasuke! I didn't notice you there!" He said rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous grin at being caught off guard.

"Don't tell me you're still a dobe after three years." Sasuke muttered, feeling this was a good time to finally say something. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say, but the sentence just slipped off his tongue. He could see the blond bristle in anger, but it was followed by a smirk.

"Jeeze, after all this time, that the first thing you say to me?" He asked. The Uchiha paused, sensing a small hint of hurt in that sentence. Sakura had also heard it, which was why she sent him a disapproving look. That made Sasuke wonder just how the name really affected his old teammate.

"Sorry." He muttered. It was quiet. It was out of character. But he had said it. _The_ Uchiha Sasuke apologized. At first, Naruto blinked in surprise, but he recovered quickly and grinned.

"Don't worry about it, teme." He shot back with a familiar title of his own, but they could tell there was no longer a bite behind the word. "Do you two mind waiting for a few minutes. Since _somebody_ made me go to sleep and didn't wake me up. Not that I'm pointing fingers." He said casually crossing his arms, a finger pointing to the man still on the bed.

"I said this before and I'll say this again, you've been working yourself to the bone. And I'm not the only one who's noticed. Tatsuya-sama is becoming hesitant to give you any more paperwork, even if it means keeping the paperwork you're the only one qualified to take." He informed the blond who sighed in resignation. Between Kyo and Tatsuya, there was no way he was going to win this one.

"Okay, fine. I'll try and cut down a little on the work. Now, I'll be out in a second." He said and went into the bathroom, leaving two tense Konoha nins in a very uncomfortable atmosphere. It wasn't that they didn't trust the man they were left with, it was just awkward. They didn't really know this man, so they had no idea what to say.

"So, would you like something to drink?" Kyo offered, breaking the silence.

"That would be nice, thank you." Sakura said politely. He nodded and got up, taking some juice (lack of ideas on NM's part) and pouring it into two cups. Sakura accepted the one he handed to her, but Sasuke still seemed irritated, so he didn't really notice when one was offered to him. Hell, he didn't even notice Kyo asked them if they wanted drinks period.

Sakura flinched, just feeling the atmosphere become tenser with the Uchiha's attitude. "Atsusa-san, could I ask you something?" she said, hoping to break the silence and find out a bit about her old friend as well.

"Of course." She smiled and thought a bit before wording her question.

"How…how is he? Naruto, I mean. He's a part of your village, correct? Is he happy there?" she asked. Sasuke became interested in the conversation, and he willed himself to calm as he listened to the answer. He saw a gentle smile spread across the red-haired male's face, as if he was recalling a cheerful memory.

"I would assume so, he does seem so happy. Well, even from the beginning, he was smiling, but, at first, the smiles seemed fake. It was understandable that he would be uncomfortable when he first joined the village, but, when I compare the smiles of his first days there, to the smiles I see now, he does seem so happy." His smile widened and held back a laugh. "Some call him an angel, it's because of him that we're becoming stronger. He's worked so hard, for the peace of mind for everyone. Yami is the sanctuary for many who were forced to leave their village for one reason or another. Even so, it was difficult for us to just get on our feet. He gave a lot of advise to Tatsuya-sama, and every single one of them helped us up."

He seemed to be talking to himself more now than to the two in the room. His eyes had a far off look in them and he has a peaceful smile on his face. Sakura wanted to ask, she wanted to ask him to elaborate more, but the bathroom door opening interrupted them.

"All right, I'm done. Sorry for making you wait." Naruto said closing the door. Kyo snapped out of his daze and got up, taking the dirty cups with him.

"Atsusa-san? Would you like to join us?" Sakura asked.

"No thank you, I still have a bit of things to do before the third part of the chunin exams. But, Naru-chan, you need to be careful, okay?" It didn't take a genius to know that Kyo was talking about the village and Naruto nodded.

"Of course. I'll see you tonight, okay?" There was a nod and Naruto left with his two ex-teammates. "So, shall we?" He teased. Sakura giggled and Sasuke snorted as they left down the hall.

* * *

**Bob: Bob is still here, and I am currently trying (keyword:_ trying_) to get her out of the Corner of Gloom**™** with a crowbar. Not exactly working out too well. Oh well, see you next time, if she ever updates.**


	10. Letter to readers

**People, I am _so terribly sorry_! I know you all want me to update and update soon, but you see...there's this little thing I've been having lately. It is the worst case of writers block I have ever had in my entire life! Well, first, I owe you an explination about the flame.**

**I never felt bad because of that flame! That was supposed to be a joke! A joke that I was sure I could make up with twice the chapter length and bygones would be bygones. I've done it before, I was positive I could do it again, but I can't! I really, truly can't. **

**You see, my writers block is to the point where, I open my word document, I look at the end of the chapter...nothing. So I look over the story, see if I get _something_. So, afterwards, back to the bottom of the document...still nada. And it isn't just _Run Away_. I'm doing roleplays where I just stare at the 'Post Reply' window for twenty minutes before I put in a sad excuse for a reply! Hell, I had to tell them (in another username) that I was being grounded because it was so bad! I try to be creative and my mind draws a complete and total blank!**

**Hell, some of you may be wondering how I'm typing now. Well, it isn't a typing problem, it's a creativity problem, one that I'm having a hard time getting out of. I'm in a slump, damnit! And I really, really, really want to get out of it. I am trying, I am trying with everything I have to get my head back in the clouds and write you guys something great! Something like the work you all told me was great. **

**I've tried to get help, but the only other writer I can have contact with keeps on saying she's going to make it a SasukeNarutoKyo threesome if she gets her hands on this story. Trust me, she's in to threesomes and CharacterxHarem, she _will_ do it. I don't like Sasuke. I don't want him to have Naruto. He may be decent, though a tiny bit spoiled in my story, but that doesn't me I will let him have Naruto.**

**Well, I just wanted to let you all know that. I am sorry. Really, really sorry.**

**-Naruto's Mask**

**P.S. Any ideas, _anything_ at all would be appreciated. Ideas on the party, the exams, anything would be looked at and thought over. Please? I really didn't want to resort to this, but, please?**


	11. Can't love

**_Run Away_**

**_By: Naruto's Mask_**

**NM-chan: Oh...my...gosh...I FINALLY UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!! I updated, I updated, whooo hoooo!!!!!!! Yeah! The slump is gone!!!!!!**

**Okay, here's the thing. This chapter has a scene that I've been thinking about ever since I started this story. However, I only though about the ending and what happens afterwards. I had no idea how to bring it about, the party thing was stumping me and my slump wasn't helping me much either.**

**Well, after finally getting it up to that point, I realized that I had no idea how to begin it, and then when it began it didn't go with what I had planned, so tried to get it so that it _would_ go with what I had planned, but I couldn't, so I had to change a lot of things, but I got it in.**

**I'm so sorry I took so long to update! I really, really, really am! Forgive me?**

**AND NO MORE FLAMERS, DAMN YOU!!!!**

"Ladies and gentlemen! The guest of honor has arrived!" Sakura announced loudly as they entered a building owned by Kiba's family. Seeing as they were one of the only families that didn't bear a grudge against Naruto, they were more than happy to lend the place for a welcome-back party.

"About time." Shikamaru muttered sourly as he finished fixing the tables, a task Ino forced him to do.

"Stop complaining you!" Said blond girl snapped. Naruto smiled as he saw that, other than their appearance, these people didn't really change at all.

"Come on, blondie! Don't stand there like some kind of wallflower! This party is for you and, damnit, we refuse to have spent all of this money just for you to hide in the back!" Kiba said dragging the blond out in the middle of the party.

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" He cried, but he couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't his past laugh, one that was loud and slightly annoying. This one was really…bubbly, for the lack of a better word. A laugh that soon spread to the other occupants of the building. Except, of course, for those who didn't laugh at all. Even so, you could still see a small twitch at the corner of their lips, obviously trying to hold back a smile.

"Oi, careful! You almost knocked over the food!" Sakura said as Kiba steered Naruto a little too close to the table where all the food was _supposed_ to be. Naruto looked at the empty plates.

"What food?" All eyes turned to Choji, who suddenly became nervous.

"CHOJI!!!!"

"Ack! Ino! Don't hurt me!"

"Great! Now what are we going to eat?"

"YOU! You're coming with me to get some more food, and if you eat it all again, you're dead!" With that, Ino dragged Choji out of the building. Naruto couldn't help but snicker.

"Wow, things _really _haven't changed, have they?" He asked. Shikamaru sighed heavily.

"Unfortunately, no. Tch, so troublesome." He muttered. Sakura giggled and took Naruto's wrist, taking him from the table and back into the crowd of friends.

"Come on. Even without food, we can still have a bunch of fun." She said.

* * *

Kyo was with Tatsuya in the room that the Yamikage was staying in for the Chunin exams. The redhead had offered to help him organize the paperwork from those that needed immediate attention, and those that Tatsuya wouldn't have to worry about for a while. Naruto was the one who usually did this, and he had promised to do it the next day, but the blond had enough paperwork to worry about and Kyo had already finished his own. The less stress on Naruto, the better it would be for everyone. There were a lot of people who would be devastated if he fell ill trying to make their lives easier. 

_All right, let's see…okay, these submissions for new students can wait for a week or two, seeing as it's going to be a while before the year begins all over again. Permission for another outside farmland should be looked at, and then there's- _

"Kyo-san? Did you hear me?" The red haired male was jolted from his thoughts by Tatsuya's words. He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Excuse me, Tatsuya-sama, I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat it?" He asked. The Yamikage laughed a little before nodded.

"Where is it again that you said Naruto-san left to?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. He has friends here that were happy to see him back and wanted to have a celebration. I also presume they are also happy that Naru-chan won't be titled an S-class missing nin." Kyo sighed, and Tatsuya could tell something was still bothering him.

"You're worried about him." He pointed out. Kyo looked at him, then back down and nodded as he continued separating the papers.

"Naruto…I'm just being paranoid, but I have this horrible feeling that something might hurt him while he's there." He sighed and mentally tried to assure himself that nothing was going to happen. That Naruto was able to take care of himself. Even so, he felt that nagging feeling that maybe he should have gone.

"Paranoia could just be another form of instinct, and one should always trust their instincts." Tatsuya himself felt a little worried about everyone who had come being out and about this village. He trusted the place just as far as he could throw it, which he couldn't. He had his trust in the Hokage and some of the clan heads he saw her speaking with that looked happy at the news that Naruto would no longer be considered a missing nin.

"Do you think so, Tatsuya-sama?" Kyo asked looking at him. The elder male sighed and looked at his subordinate and long-time companion.

"It wouldn't hurt to be safe. Go to him, at least make sure he is all right. If he sees you and asks why you're there, I'm sure he would understand your worry." There was a pause before Kyo stood up, bowed, and took off out the door. As he did, Tatsuya noticed a crudely made glass on the table crack slightly.

_This is…_ Tatsuya picked up the glass before looking out the window, where Kyo could already be seen going down the street.

* * *

**_CRASH!!!!_**

"Owowowowowowowowowowow!!!!" Naruto moaned as he struggled to get out of the crater in the cement wall. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He demanded loudly.

"FOR BEING A PEST! Do you know the headache I've been having all these years?! You could have at least dropped a note that all these idiots were WASTING THEIR TIME SO I COULD TELL THEM TO SHUT UP!"

"YOU'RE INSANE!"

"YOU'RE A PAIN IN THE ASS!"

"You're both going to get me grounded for life!" Kiba cried at the feuding duo.

"SHUT UP!" Both ninjas shouted before glaring at each other.

"Stupid brat!" One snarled.

"Crazy old hag!" the other retorted. Blue and amber clashed and everyone in the room could see the lightning going between them. Then, all of a sudden, both their scowls vanished and were replaced with grins.

"You really are a pain in the ass." Tsunade said ruffling Naruto's blond locks. The boy made a sound of protest before batting the hand away.

"And you're even more of a hag then I remembered." Deciding to ignore it and not ruin the mood, Tsunade instead embraced the nin in front of her, smiling slightly as she did.

"I've missed you, we all have, otouto." She said fondly. Naruto couldn't help but smile when she called him that.

"I'm still going to call you baa-chan, you know." She snorted and pulled away, bopping him on the head as she did (although the 'bop' made a pretty sore bump). Jiraiya, who had moved back to keep from being caught in the crossfire, decided to come back out of the corner. He laughed as he smacked the blonde's back.

"I see you still have your way with the ladies." He joked, causing Tsunade to glare at him, but he seemed to be immune to it at the moment.

"Yeah, I've always wondered how girls found smacking me across the room appealing." Naruto sighed.

_That may be why I'm not attracted to girls. _A tint of red stained his cheeks as he thought of Kyo. He was really beginning to miss the older male, but he knew Kyo wanted him to have some time with his friends by himself. Maybe he would come the their next gathering.

"Can someone give me a hand? If my sister finds this, she's going to skin me alive!" Kiba said, referring to the hole in the wall.

"I'll help, Kiba-kun." Hinata said shyly. The dog-boy blushed a little and the offer and smiled in appreciation, though he didn't really appreciated the glare given to him by Neji. Naruto was about to volunteer to help himself, since it was his hard head that helped cause the hole, but then someone grabbed his hand.

"Naruto, there's something I need to talk to you about." He turned and, to his confusion it was Sasuke who grabbed his hand. He was looking down, avoiding eye contact. Still, the blond just grinned.

"Sure thing!" He said and, as Sasuke was leading him up the stairs where no one was, Naruto suddenly remembered something.

_"Naruto-san, there's something I would like to talk to you about."_

His eyes widened and he bit his lip. _Sasuke wouldn't be…no, please tell me he isn't going to…_

Naruto held back a shudder. If Sasuke was doing what he thought he was doing, he needed to get out of here, right now. He didn't know if he would be able to handle this! He tired to calm his breathing as Sasuke led him to the balcony.

"Naruto, I need to tell you something. I-" Naruto, however, cut him off as he gasped and pointed to the sky.

"Hey, Sasuke, look at that!" He said, coming up with the first thing he could think of. Sasuke mentally growled at the interruption, but decided to look where Naruto was pointing. He then arched an eyebrow at the only thing he could see there.

"The moon?" He said incredulously. The blond grinned and nodded.

"Yeah! It's been a while since I've seen the full moon." It was true. Since Yamigakure is completely concealed, except for one small area, it is hard to see the moon unless you go outside, and he has avoided going outside out of fear the someone from Konoha may spot him. Not to say he hasn't seen the moon in the three years he's been gone, it's just that he's never been out when it was full.

"What kind of place is Yami if you can't see the moon?" Naruto thought about telling him. Well, it couldn't really hurt to tell a tiny bit about the place, as long as he doesn't give any hints as to where Yamigakure is. Besides, it would keep him talking and it would avoid any unwanted confessions that Naruto assumed Sasuke wanted to talk about.

"Well, I can't tell you a lot about the place, you understand, right? Can't risk eavesdroppers who want to know where it is finding out. What I can tell you is that it's a big, hollowed out mountain, courtesy of a bunch of shinobi who were cast out of Iwagakure." He said, remembering those ninja from the Earth Country. They were actually a lot kinder that Naruto had first assumed. "There is an area where a bit of light is let in, and that bit mildly lights up the village during the day. Small herb farms mostly occupy that area. But, other than that, it's pretty dark most of the time, hence the name, Yamigakure. I did once suggest changing the name to 'Village Hidden Within the Hollowed Out Mountain'."

Naruto giggled a little at that thought. He remembered the laughter that suggestion and Tatsuya actually considered it for a moment. But they had their name and symbol and it would be too much of a hassle to change it. Even so, they spent that entire night figuring out what the symbol would be and what their signature techniques would be. It was a pretty interesting night.

"Why does it not surprise me that you would suggest something like that?" Sasuke smirked. Naruto pouted and the Uchiha snorted. Sasuke waited for a moment, expecting Naruto to ask him to continue what he was saying before he was interrupted because of the moon. However, Naruto just continued to stare at the moon and hum.

"Look, Naruto, I brought you up here to tell you something. Something I wished I realized earlier. Maybe if I did, you wouldn't have-"

"Sasuke stop." He said, cutting the Uchiha off. "I know what you're going to say, and I really don't want to hear it. Please, can we just forget about this and go back. I don't want them to worry." The blond turned and was about to walk back downstairs when Sasuke grabbed his wrist.

"Naruto! Can you just listen to me? Damn it, I'm trying to tell you that I love you!" There was silence as the blond tensed. Sasuke inwardly groaned. This was not the way he was planning on confessing. But, what's done is done, and all he can do is wait for Naruto's response.

"…You…really are a bastard, teme." Naruto muttered as he began to tremble. He took his wrist away and looked at Sasuke with pained eyes. "How could you tell me this? How could you, after I spent _three damn years_ trying to forget you! Trying to forget the feelings that I had for you?! How could you, Sasuke?" He demanded.

The Uchiha took a step back. He didn't expect _this_ to be Naruto's reaction. "Had?"

"Yes, _had_!" Naruto took a deep breath before turning away. "Sasuke…I did love you Sasuke. I loved you so much it hurt. I guess it started when you saved me from Haku. You may have said your body moved completely on its own, but I cherished the thought, the _illusion_ that someone cared about me enough to die for me."

"Naruto, I-"

"But then you left." Naruto faced him and Sasuke saw, to his surprise and displeasure, that the blond had tears cascading down his cheeks. "You left for power. I tried to bring you back and you nearly _killed_ me! Even so, I tried so hard to bring you back, and every time you left me unconscious, my heart broke. The last straw was when I was nearly executed! For what? For bruising you and spraining your wrist? Sasuke, I _can't_ love you! I _can't _love. Period!"

It was true. With his heart being broken time and time again by the person he considered most precious to him, and then the village he's done nothing but protect tried to have him killed, Naruto has forgotten how to love. He can care, but that's the furthest his feelings he could ever go. Even for Kyo. He cared about Kyo more than anyone else, but he couldn't love him. Kyo knew that, but he still stayed with him. He helped mend his heart knowing that it was very possible that it may return to the one who originally had it before it completely shattered…

To Sasuke…

"Naruto, I'm sorry." He said, walking up to the blond. He cupped the scarred cheeks in his hands and looked down at those watery blue eyes, truly remorseful about what he has done to him. "I really am."

Sasuke leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Naruto's before kissing him fully. Naruto's eyes widened and he stood shocked for a moment before finally collecting his wits and pushing Sasuke away.

"I…I need to go!" He said before turning and running off.

"Naruto!"

The blond didn't listen. He ran. Down the stairs, past the confused party goers and out the door. He didn't even care where he was going anymore, he just needed to _go_. This shouldn't have happened. Why the hell did he agree to host a gennin team? He knew that they would want to participate in the Chunin exams. He had just prayed they wouldn't pass the village's own exams that allowed them to participate.

He continued to run, but then, as he turned a corner, he ran into another body, someone who seemed to be in just as much a rush as he was. He flinched automatically and held his arms over his head, something that he had a habit of in the past and had never grown out of.

"Naru-chan?!"

Naruto looked up to see concerned green eyes. "Kyo…"

"Naru-chan, are you all right? I'm sorry, I should have looked where I was going." He said kneeling down. Then he noticed the tears. His breath automatically hitched and he moved closer. "Naruto, what's wrong? What happened?" He asked putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Naruto looked at him, tears spilling from his eyes without him even being aware of it. Then his face twisted in pain and he launched himself into Kyo's arms. "I'm sorry!" He cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry!" He sobbed, clutching tightly onto his robes. Kyo was surprised but he automatically wrapped his arms around him, hoping to comfort him while he was still confused.

"It's all right, Naruto. It's all right." He murmured comforting words, hoping to quell the tears. He didn't even care that they were in the middle of the street with people looking at them with both disgust and contempt. "Naruto, what's happened to you?" He asked, speaking more to himself.

"Can we just go, Kyo? Please, let's go." He said, his voice cracking. The redhead nodded and lifted Naruto into his arms. He wasn't a ninja, but he was strong enough to carry the surprisingly light blond and bring him to the inn.

* * *

Yuki shivered and looked around from his position on the log. Why did he suddenly feel so cold? There wasn't a breeze and the temperature of the forest was supposed to be fairly mild at night. Both Maya and Kisshu were asleep and he was taking up the first watch for the night. 

Passing the first part of the exam was fairly easy. They had automatically figured that it was a test that was trying to force them to cheat, so they spent a third of the time doing nothing and waiting for everyone else to figure this out, then they spent another third writing down wrong answers and letting people cheat off of them. The other third was spent with Yuki being able to answer them all correctly and Kisshu using his bloodline to take the soul of one of the ninjas in front of him. He combined it with a mosquito and it copied Yuki's answers before using some ink Kisshu had in his pocket and writing them down on his and Maya's papers.

Naruto-sensei had told them about Ibiki and that he was a bit of a sadist, but that was all he told them. Sadly, it was a random jounin who was testing them, so they didn't know what to expect. He did give them a choice. Answer the tenth question and never become a higher than a gennin if they get it wrong, or leave and have a chance fore next year. The team knew that everyone expected them to drop out, especially with Yuki himself crying about not wanting to disappoint his sensei by being able to ever participate in the exams again, but they didn't.

So, now they were in the Forest of Death. They had the Heaven scroll and were actually waiting for someone to come after them since most of the people there were obviously pointing them out as the easiest team to target.

But since it was nighttime, they were making it hard for anyone to find them. Maya had already made a plan to get the Earth scroll. It may be exposing their true selves to anyone who witnesses it, but it may work to their advantage. Their opponents would be so confused that there was a slim chance they would be prepared to combat them during the final part of the exams.

"Ne, Yuki, go to sleep. It's my turn." Kisshu muttered drowsily as he got up from the sleeping mats that they had packed in some scrolls.

"Wake up a little before you tell me to sleep. The last thing we need is to be decapitated because you were too tired to pay attention." Yellow eyes glared at him and Kisshu walked up to his teammate before knocking him on the head.

"You shut up." He growled sourly, though he knew that Yuki was probably right. That didn't mean he wasn't going to be annoyed about it, though.

Yuki grumbled a little as he used his hands to rub down the dull pain on his head. He stayed true to what he said and waited for Kisshu to join the world of the living. Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Maya when she was woken up. The brunette couldn't help but shiver. She was scary when she was woken up.

He then sighed and looked back up at the sky. The ill feeling he got a while ago from the chill hadn't faded. He really hoped that everything was all right.

"Oi, stop frowning like that. It makes you look weird." Kisshu remarked, sticking his fingers in the corners of Yuki's mouth and forcing it into a smile. "There, that's better." He replied with a snigger.

Yuki batted that hands away and started spitting. "Don't stick your fingers in my mouth! Kami knows where _they've_ been!" He said with a glare, but that only caused Kisshu's grin to widen.

"So what's with the long face?" He asked sitting down. Yuki stopped his spitting and looked at him before looking back up at the sky.

"Just a feeling that something bad happened. I don't know if it's mega-bad or just bad, but I think something bad happened." He said.

"Paranoia?"

"Maybe…" Yuki sighed and then got up and dusted himself off before walking to his mat. "I'm going to bed, don't doze off, Yuki. And good luck with Maya." He smiled and went down to go to sleep.

Kisshu rolled his eyes and leaned back as he yawned. Well, it seems that something's going to hit them once they passed the second part of the exam. Oh, he knew they were going to pass. They had to. There were some people the three of them needed to pound into the dirt. But, since they couldn't do that, they had to settle with the other Gennins in the exam.

* * *

**NM-chan: Yeah, a bit of a surprise, don't you think? Okay, explanation time. I've been getting a LOT of PMs begging me to make this SasuNaru. I don't wanna! Still, may as well appease them by giving them the **_**possibility**_** that it will be SasuNaru. It's **_**possible**_**, but I ain't making a single damn promise, got it?!**

**Bob: Trust me SasuNaru fans, she isn't going make this SasuNaru, no matter how much you threaten her. She does not like it and would rather give up all her anime merchandise then make this SasuNaru. Do you have **_**any**_** idea how serious that makes it?! She nearly broke a guy's arm for trying to steal her Naruto calendar. A **_**CALENDAR**_**!!! So, there is no hope, live with it.**


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